So last week Sanofi-Aventis pulled their marijuana receptor based drug rimonabant from the FDA's application process.
It seemed that the drug, widely touted as the next great thing in medical weight loss, worked alright as a weight loss aid but had the nasty habit of inducing psychic side effects including suicidal ideation.
Rather than risk getting rejected from the FDA (I imagine that would hurt sales in the EU where the drug is in fact approved), Sanofi pulled the application.
Sanofi had sunk a tremendous amount of money into the research and development of the drug and shares dropped close to 5% on the news.
Sanofi had predicted over $3 billion per year of global sales of the drug and spent tremendous amounts of money marketing it even before its eventual non release in the States. I remember they were the only booth at the last Obesity Society conference with red carpets, plasma screen televisions, slick handouts and for some odd reason, frozen yogurt bars.
Bottom line here, while certainly I'd welcome a weight loss medication that was safe, effective with little in the way of side effects, it doesn't appear that we're too much closer.
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Is meridia an alternative? I am under the impression that meridia is a drug for depression that caused people to lose weight. Is that right? (although it was a very small amount of weight. We can't always believe what we hear though!
ReplyDeleteMeridia is a drug that works on the same pathways as antidepressants but is not in and of itself used for depression.
ReplyDeleteAs a stand alone drug at best it'll lead to a 5-8% weight loss but certainly in conjunction with a weight loss program, can do better.
It's a for life drug that treats appetite (i.e. if you stop treating the appetite, it and presumably your weight comes back).
Thanks for that information Dr. As usual my appetite is really more of a mind problem than a hunger problem. One day at a time with small changes I can keep doing forever right?
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