Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. appears to be betting on it, with a multimillion-dollar partnership with a company that last year began small-scale testing of a nasal spray drug designed to make the stomach feel full faster.

Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. of Bothell, Wash., said Monday that its compound, known as PYY for short, could help address not only the nation's obesity epidemic but related health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis and cancer.

Dr. Steven C. Quay, Nastech's chairman, president and chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call, that if further testing of the drug goes well, he thinks it could reduce patients' daily calorie intake by 30 percent.

It would translate into an approximate 50-pound weight loss over a year, based on the 2,800 calories a day the average American eats, he said.

PYY, whose full name is Peptide YY 3-36 Nasal Spray, is based on a hormone made by the intestines that travels through the bloodstream to the brain, telling it that the body is full about 30 to 45 minutes after a person starts eating.

Nastech's version, sprayed into the nose, would allow the drug to quickly move through the nasal lining and into the bloodstream, telling the brain the body is full within 20 to 35 minutes of taking a dose.

Depending on how further testing goes, the eventual drug likely would be taken either daily or shortly before each meal to suppress appetite. PYY has undergone preliminary testing on a total of 60 people with favorable results, Nastech said.

Source: Diabetes In Control.com: Reported at Analysts meeting Sept 24, 2004.