Obesity therapy gains as test rats don’t overeat

One of the more offbeat ideas in the business of developing drugs to treat obesity has some new evidence behind it.

Boston-based Gelesis, the developer of a super-absorbent capsule designed to swell up in the stomach and make people feel full, said its treatment was able to help rats reduce their food intake over 18 hours. The findings were presented at the Obesity Society’s recent annual meeting in San Diego.

While it’s too early to say the treatment will work in people, many other weight-loss drugs have been tripped up by safety concerns. But the rat study is interesting, in part, because it comes about six months after Gelesis reported on a more rigorous clinical trial of 95 patients. The other study showed that the capsules helped people feel full after meals and less hungry in between...