UK obesity drug ACOMPLIA withdrawn

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Obesity drug withdrawn over depression

Friday October 24 2008 Article historySales and prescriptions of a

weight-loss drug were suspended yesterday after European health

authorities said the potenatial benefits no longer outweighed the

proven risks.

The European Medicines Agency said obese people taking Acomplia were

roughly twice as likely to develop psychiatric disorders, such as

depression, anxiety and aggression, than those taking a placebo.

US authorities have refused to allow Acomplia to be marketed in

America.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which

oversees drugs in the UK, said that as a result of the ruling,

healthcare professionals would be told not to give any new

prescriptions for Acomplia. Patients taking the drug have been told

to consult their doctor.

Acomplia is a brand name for rimonabant, which helps obese patients

to lose weight by suppressing their appetite. It has been authorised

in the EU since 2006 to be used alongside diet and exercise to treat

obese or overweight patients and has been " moderately effective " .

Between June and August this year, five patients who were taking the

drug as part of a trial involving 36,000 people committed suicide.

One person taking the placebo committed suicide.

Manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis said it would comply with the request to

temporarily suspend marketing the drug and added that it would

provide additional evidence from clinical trials to help with the re-

evaluation of Acomplia. It said 700,000 people worldwide had used

Acomplia.