Originally published February 26 2006
Maker of Acomplia claims it kills the urge for food and cigarettes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Philly.com takes a look at Sanofi-Aventis' Acomplia, also known as rimonabant, which reportedly reduces people's cravings for food and cigarettes.
A pill that helps you lose weight, quit smoking, and reduce the cardiovascular risks for diabetes and heart disease.
Sanofi-Aventis SA's new treatment, Acomplia, also known as rimonabant, has shown promise in a half-dozen clinical trials in curbing the cravings that make people hungry and reach for a cigarette.
The experimental drug, which works differently from other weight-loss medicines, could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as soon as this month.
And industry analysts predict it could become the world's first blockbuster antiobesity treatment, with annual sales of 2 billion to 4 billion euros, or $2.4 billion to $4.8 billion.
In studies, a 20-milligram dose once a day helped patients lose 5 percent to 10 percent of their weight in a year, raise good HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, and improve blood sugar and blood pressure.
If Acomplia gets marketing approval from the FDA later this month, Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis, which employs 1,000 at its drug-development center in Malvern, has said it could begin selling the pill by June 30.
Rimonabant is the first in a new class of medicines that works in the body's endocannabinoid system, which has a role in appetite.
Yet pharmaceutical companies are still seeking a magic pill for obesity.
With about 30 percent of U.S. adults obese - more than 60 million people - and 16 percent of children and teens overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the potential market is huge, analysts say.
Wadden said scientists identified a part of the brain "associated with eating or overeating" - the cannabinoid receptor - and learned there are natural substances in the body that turn the receptor on.
"Obesity medications get no respect," said Penn's Wadden.
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