A drug developer, Vivus, claimed that its weight-loss drug, called Onexa, produced effective results in two late-stage clinical trials, causing a steep rise in the company's share price.

Vivus said that it would apply to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of this drug and also start looking for a pharmaceutical company to market their product, by the end of this year.

One-third American adults are obese and a successful drug can cause billions of dollars to be spent on buying this drug. Some other similar drugs currently available in the market have side-effects and some have been removed from the market.

In a comparison with two other pharmaceutical companies, Arena and Orexigen, which are planning similar diet drugs, Onexa has achieved better results.

In a trial conducted by Vivus, 70 percent of patients taking high dose of Onexa in both trials lost at least 5 percent of their body weight compared with 20 percent pr so of those taking a placebo.

This figure has crossed a major FDA requirement of at least twice as many patients as compared to those on a placebo lose 5 percent of their body weight.

They also reported that patients taking Onexa lowered blood sugar, blood lipids and blood pressure thus reducing the risk of heart diseases and diabetes.

Th main noticeable side-effects of Onexa are dry mouth, constipation and tingling in the toes and fingers. No signs of depression, suicidal behavior or cognitive problems were observed.