One of the components of Vivus Inc.'s obesity drug candidate Qnexa has come under the scanner of the US Food and Drug Administration for associated side effects. Following the development, the shares of Vivus Inc. fell over 3% to trade at $8.41 this morning.

A small-scale, mid-stage trial of Qnexa, which is an experimental weight-loss medicine developed by Vivus Inc., has revealed that the drug can actually manage to reduce the incidence of sleep apnea events by about 69%, as confirmed by the company on Tuesday.

On the news, shares of the company managed to surge by 5.6% to $9.75.

VIVUS Inc., the biopharmaceutical firm, on Tuesday announced that it has filed a marketing application for a new drug with the US Food and Drug Administration. The drug is question is the new experimental obesity medicine Qnexa, which aims to treat obesity in patients who also suffer from hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia or central adiposity.

Vivus Inc. has declared that Onexa, their experimental drug for weight loss has proved successful in trials. During the 28- week trial, the drug was effective in helping obese people lose 9.2% of their weight on an average.