Vivus Inc. (VVUS)’s shareholders are poised to reap an 88 percent windfall in a takeover after the company’s weight-loss drug moved one step closer to winning approval to treat America’s 78 million obese adults. A panel of U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 20-2 last week that the benefits of Vivus’s Qnexa pill outweigh its risks, a recommendation that could lead to the first new FDA-approved weight-loss drug since 1999. An approval would make the company worth as much as $40 a share to potential acquirers, said Cowen & Co., valuing Mountain View, California-based Vivus at $3.6 billion. The 88 percent premium would be four times the industry average and the second-highest for a drug takeover over $1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
