Rimonabant is widely available outside the United States, including in Eurolpe for a log time now, but Sanofi Aventis pulled it back from consideration by the U.S. FDA last summer after an agency advisory panel unanimously expressed concern over the drug’s psychiatric side-effects and they refused to approve it.

The weight-loss drug rimonabant has been associated with troubling psychiatric side effects, and now researchers think they have discovered the reason.

A receptor in the brain called TRPV1, which is central to learning and memory, may be blocked by large doses of rimonabant (Acomplia), resulting in depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among some people taking the drug, a new study shows.

“It’s possible that when people are taking the drug rimonabant, and the dose range is correct, it may not affect TRPV1 at all,” . “However, in some people, Acomplia could be hitting TRPV1 and may well have an effect on activating this receptor,so the solution could  be here” said lead researcher Julie Kauer, an associate professor of molecular pharmacology, physiology and biotechnology at Brown University in Rhode Island.

In experiments with rat brains, Kauer’s group found that TRPV1 controls a brain mechanism called long-term depression, which is thought to be a key component in memory. The team thinks this discovering may be related to the psychiatric side effects that have been seen with Acomplia.

In addition, the researchers found that a new class of painkillers may interfere with learning and memory, because they also block TRPV1.

A specialist thinks the study may have identified the main reason for mood disorders associated with Acomplia Rimonabant, but it said  that the drug’s benefits outweigh the risks.Despite this fact is this discovering will help Sanofi to eliminate the side effect ,so that Acomplia be totally safe.

“This is an interesting study which is important in potential mechanisms that could explain the higher incidence of mood disorders associated with rimonabant use,” said Dr. Raj Padwal, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta in Canada.

This study is a really good thing in elucidating potential mechanisms but not really helpful in teasing out whether the drug should be approved, Padwal said. “For approval, I’m sure the FDA is looking for post-marketing surveillance data from Europe and other countries of the world in which the drug is being used,because as we allready know FDA asks more than anybody can give when we’re talking about an european product.” he added.

As a conclusion we can only hope that this latest discoverings will make Acomplia even a better pill.Rimonabant has so many benefits and only a few side effect and now if Sanofi will use this study will make from Acomplia the best diet pill in the world for a lot of years from now.

FDA approval of diet drug rimonabant (Acomplia ) failed. That did not happen — in fact, rimonabant may never make it to market in the U.S,
and the great diet hope for 2008 is Merck’s diet drug taranabant.

Everybody knows that there is a big rivality between Sanofi and Merk.
Despite all the efforts Sanofi Aventis failed to get Acomplia in the US market.
Specialists reported that Acomplia is to dangerous because of adverse reaction (patients suffered depression) and suicide risk.
Obese Americans eager to hear more about taranabant got a teaser Jan. 10th, but the generally encouraging report in the January issue of the journal Cell Metabolism was again based on results from a phase II trial and not the big phase III trial underway these past two years.
The news, in fact, was very similar to the report on phase II results that Merck presented at the annual scientific meeting of the Obesity Society back on Oct. 24th. In the journal article, researchers said study participants taking varying doses of taranabant lost 8 to 14 pounds over a 12-week period.
Merck researchers said between one-fifth and one-third of patients in the phase II trial of taranabant experienced psychiatric adverse effects, including depressed mood, irritability, anger, mood swings, tearfulness, anxiety, insomnia, and nervousness.
Presumably, there will be more and better information on side-effect issues when Merck reports on results of its phase III taranabant trial later this year. No date has yet been set for the first reports from this trial.
We hope that Taranabant will have better luck and obtain access in US.
Not that We take their side but We have concrete facts to belive that more and more obese people buy Generic form of Acomplia and the results are slower and the side effects of Rimonabant are not well known.

No adverse reaction were reported with people using rimonabant and the benefits are impressive.

Everybody is curios about the last year reports for Acomplia benefits!

As the obesity crisis worsens and more pharmaceutical companies are hoping to improve their bottom line by shrinking their customers’ bottoms. After all, we are a short-cut society (who wouldn’t rather pop a pill than engage in the hard work of exercise and calorie restriction?) with a short memory (remember the fen-phen diet-drug combo that led to a gazillion lawsuits?). The good news is that according to a recent report in the British Medical Journal, three relatively new antiobesity drugs helped patients lose a moderate amount of weight while doing such things as lowering cholesterol and reducing the incidence of diabetes. The bad news is that the list of possible side effects doesn’t end there.

The study found that both of the diet pills the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for long-term use may lead to a modest weight loss of about 5% to 10% of a person’s total body mass within the course of a year.

Approved by the European Drug Agency in June 2006 and sold under the name Acomplia, rimonabant takes a different weight-loss route than Meridia, which revs up metabolism and creates a feeling of fullness, and Alli, which reduces fat absorption from food. Rimonabant is the first of a new class of drugs designed to keep the user from getting the munchies. That’s right: knowing that marijuana and other forms of cannabis stimulate the appetite, scientists wondered what might happen if they blocked the brain’s cannabinoid receptors.Not only did the desire for food seem to diminish with rimonabant but other cravings, like nicotine, were easier to control.

The FDA panel nixed rimonabant’s application for approval due to concerns that the drug increases the risk of depression.So basically Fda must obtain more information about It right?

No you see its all politics.We all know that side effects are inevitable but I say that Acomplia its the first diet pill  for long term usage with minor side effects.Lets think about Xenical or phentermine this 2 pills are crimal and made lot of trouble and still they were approved.

So why is not Acomplia aprroved in the US.Its simple the USA FDA is waiting for Merck option (manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceuticals) they developed a new diet pill called Taranbant.Even if the trial results of Taranabant are not significant it doesn’t matter.Merck is a Us Laboratory ,so why not wait for them instead approving Acomplia developed by Sanofi Aventis - French Laboratory.

Its not fair but we are talking about business and money here!!