Rimonabant - Acomplia® - News Related Stories

Various News Articles

The Ultimate Diet Pill?
By Michelle Andrews
If food is your torture, relief may be on the way. A new pill promises to help people lose weight by taking the edge off the cravings... A bonus: Your blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol level might drop, too... read more above

Diet Pill Seized By Customs
By Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon
Q: I just wanted to give you a heads-up that Acomplia is available online from the U.K. without a prescription. The trouble is that you run the risk of having the drug seized by U.S. Customs... I was really disappointed because I had lost seven pounds in my first month on the drug, with only mild side effects... read more above

Glaxo targets pharmacists over diet drug fears
By Kim Dixon
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc has asked U.S. pharmacists to warm patients about the unpleasant side effects that may occur with a potential over- the-counter diet drug. U.S. regulators are considering Glaxo's application to sell a low-dose version of prescription medicine Xenical at retail pharmacies. The drug works by preventing fat from being absorbed by the body, a process that can cause oily stools, excess gas and rectal discharge.

FDA Panel Votes against Rimonabant June 13th 2007
     The FDA reviewed the medication rimonabant. Rimonabant is also known as Acomplia in Europe and other countries and possibly Zimulti was then name it was to have in the United States. June 13th, the FDA voted against recommending this medication to hit the USA pharmacies. It has since not been approved in the U.S. What does this mean for Sanofi-Aventis and what does the future of this medication look like for the United States? They say there needs more testing and that the results still look promising for this medication.
     Rimonabant has been past by many European countries for the treatment of obesity. Rimonabant works by blocking receptors in the brain that are responsible for food cravings. Less food in your system results in less calories, and less weight. Some of the other potential benefits of this drug are that it has been shown to increase the "good" cholesterol while reducing "bad" cholesterol and has shown promise for helping smokers kick the habit.
     While we don't know all that went on in the FDA meeting, we do know that some of the issues that where brought up about this medication. One of the big obstacles they had issues with was its possible psychiatric side effects including suicidal influences. The FDA panel was not satisfied with the amount of feedback they had regarding this medication. And most likely they will keep an eye on it including watching the feedback coming in from other doctors around the world. It looks likely that a 50 month trail will then determine if this medication will be accepted into the USA market, a trail that would not be complete until 2010. The FDA did not want to overlook any aspects of this medication before ever accepting it in the USA.
     Oct 23rd 2008 Update We have learned that Rimonabant (Acomplia®) has been suspended from the EU Market Due to the medications psychiatric side effects that have been reported in some of its users. This medication is still available in some other countries.
Rimonabant/Acomplia has been not only pulled off the shelves in the EU, but its maker has decided to stop further testing with it.