A pílula da barriga: dúvidas no EUA, lucro na Europa, publicidade no Brasil.

O Bom Dia Brasil levantou a bola do Acomplia, nome do rimonabant, como a pílula da barriga. (clique aqui para ver a reportagem) . Não entendi, afinal o medicamento aprovado pela ANVISA, recusado pelo FDA ainda não está no mercado. Na Europa, no entanto o sucesso é enorme e , a Sanofi está satisfeira. Abaixo reportagem do The Wall Street Journal.

Sanofi Satisfied with Acomplia in Europe Posted by Jeanne Whalen Although Sanofi-Aventis failed to get its obesity pill rimonabant approved in the U.S. this summer, the company says it’s satisfied with the uptake in Europe, where the medicine was launched last year. Nearly 300,000 Europeans are taking rimonabant, sold under the brand name Acomplia. About half of them are obese and also have type 2 diabetes, Pierre Chancel, Sanofi’s head of global marketing told the Health Blog. Chancel said Sanofi is pleased with this patient profile because the company wants the drug to be seen as a serious medical treatment and not just a pill for cosmetic weight loss. Sanofi is testing rimonabant as a treatment for diabetes in several big trials and plans to request regulatory approval for that use in 2009. So far Acomplia sales “are completely comparable to the ramp-up of anti-diabetic drugs…so 300,000 is something that is very satisfactory,” Chancel said. Some European governments have refused to pay for Acomplia, however, judging it a “lifestyle” drug with few real medical benefits despite the company’s arguments. Some patients are choosing to paying for it out of their own pocket, Chancel said. Acomplia costs about 2.60 euros per pill (or $3.68). Worries about psychiatric side effects, including suicidal thinking, weighed on a panel of medical experts who advised the U.S. FDA in June to reject the drug. Weeks later Sanofi withdrew its application to U.S. regulators for the medicine, while it gathers additional data to quell concerns about the drug. Stateside the brand name was to be Zimulti, which reminded the Health Blog of an Italian pasta dish.