Sanofi-Aventis ends research on troubled diet drug

TRENTON, N.J. - French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis is halting all research on a once-promising diet drug that never made it to the U.S. market.

The Paris-based company, in the world's No. 4 drugmaker, said Wednesday that it is stopping all ongoing human testing of the drug, Acomplia, which until recently was sold in Europe.

Sanofi-Aventis said in a brief statement the decision was made "in light of recent demands by certain national health authorities."

Just two weeks ago, Sanofi-Aventis said it was temporarily suspending sales of Acomplia in Europe, where it had been marketed in 18 European Union countries since 2006.

That move, on Oct. 23, came after the European Medicines Agency recommended that the European Commission temporarily suspend sales of Acomplia, known chemically as rimonabant, saying its risks outweighed its benefits. Those risks include depression, anxiety and stress disorders.

At the time, Sanofi-Aventis said it "remains committed to Acomplia to bring an important therapeutic approach to obese and overweight patients" and that it planned to provide additional evidence for health officials to re-evaluate its risks and benefits in patients with diabetes and heart disease.

In this country, the Food and Drug Administration last year rejected the drug after a panel of outside advisers recommended doing so, saying Acomplia increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

More than 700,000 overweight and obese people around the world have been treated with Acomplia, gaining significant health benefits, according to Sanofi-Aventis.

The company had been testing it for use in various types of patients.

At one point, Acomplia was being studied as a possible treatment to help cigarette smokers quit. It is believed to work by blocking the same pleasure centers in the body that are stimulated when marijuana smokers get very hungry.

A company spokesman in the United States did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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