LONDON (Agence de Presse Medicale for Reuters Health) - A British scientist warned on Wednesday that Sanofi-Synthelabo’s experimental obesity drug Acomplia (rimonabant) could affect the way people think.
Professor Steve Bloom, from Imperial College London, said the drug works on the cannabinoid system that affects many different parts of the brain, not just the appetite centre.
He told a news conference that phase lll trial results show that the drug not only helps people lose weight, but is very useful for stopping smoking.
“That sounds great, but what it is telling you is that it is altering the way you think,” he said. “Maybe it will stop them getting promoted, maybe it will stop them being interested in sex. You are affecting the whole way the brain works because you are blocking this fundamental brain function.”
Professor Bloom, who discovered that obese people have low levels of the hunger-regulating hormone PYY3-36, said pharmaceutical companies have so far failed to develop anything very effective against obesity.
“There have been about 114 drugs which have been brought to market [and only two]-- Roche’s Xenical (orlistat) and Abbott’s Xenical (sibutramine)--are still on the market, both of which are very feeble. It is a failure story.”
His own work, published in The New England Journal of Medicine last September, shows that when PYY3-36 infusions were given to 12 lean and 12 overweight volunteers, their appetite and calorific consumption fell by one third over 24 hours.
He complained that pharmaceutical companies were not interested in funding this work because it is not patent protected. As a result, he depends on limited public funds and is making slow progress even though effective obesity therapies are desperately needed.
A Sanofi spokeswoman told APM that more than 13,000 people are taking part in clinical trials of Acomplia, and no major side effects have been reported. The most common complaints are nausea and dizziness, but these effects are “mild and transient.”
MeSH Headings:Clinical Trials: Environment and Public Health: Epidemiologic Methods: Evaluation Studies: Health: Health Occupations: Health Services Administration: Medicine: Investigative Techniques: Population Characteristics: Preventive Medicine: Public Health: Quality of Health Care: Specialties, Medical: Drugs, Investigational: Epidemiologic Study Characteristics: Clinical Trials, Phase III: Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation: Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms: Anti-Obesity Agents: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: Biological Sciences: Health CareCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
