Free Republic

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian biotech group Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said on Monday a clinical trial showed its new weight-loss drug was effective and free of side effects, sending its shares soaring 28 percent. The drug, one of dozens that companies are developing to fight an obesity epidemic in the West, faces wider testing next year and is only expected to hit the market in 2008 at the earliest, but investors took Metabolic's shares up to a record A$2.50. The shares had eased back to A$2.16 by 10:43 p.m. EST -- still around double where they started the year. Metabolic said...