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.

The Mountain View California based Vivus had filed for the approval of Qnexa as a weight loss drug with the US Food and Drug Administration last week.

"This could potentially expand the market opportunity, but first and foremost it is being developed as a weight-loss drug, which is under review. An important point is that (the reduction in) sleep apnea is likely due to weight loss. The two are linked. It's not clear how (Vivus) will proceed to get the label specifically for sleep apnea. It's likely they will need to do more studies", said Canaccord Adams analyst Adam Cutler.

Already, Qnexa has managed to impress regulators, when the trial of the drug reported that patients treated with the drug managed to lose 10.2% of their body weight, compared to the 4.3% weight loss for patients on placebo.