Vivus hands back rights to testosterone therapy

Daunted by the prospect of a lengthy safety review, Mountain View, CA-based Vivus is giving up on its program for an experimental testosterone therapy for women. The developer says it is shelving the Luramist program and returning the rights to a subsidiary of Acrux. "The decision to terminate the agreement was made in view of the significant long-term safety requirements for the approval of testosterone products in women," stated Peter Tam, president of Vivus, in a prepared statement. "We believe it is in our shareholders' best interests to pursue other therapeutic candidates." Tam plans to focus the company on its two leading therapies: Qnexa for obesity and avanafil for erectile dysfunction. Release