Sanofi-Aventis Launching Obesity Drug In UK

French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY) is launching its closely watched obesity drug Acomplia in its first market Wednesday - the U.K. - where it will charge GBP55.20 for one month's supply of the product, Sanofi officials said.

Sanofi recently received approval from European regulators to start selling Acomplia and will launch the drug in other European markets in the coming months. In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration postponed approving the drug, asking for more information on it. Sanofi says it expects to begin selling Acomplia in the U.S. before the end of the year.
Acomplia is the most important drug in Sanofi's pipeline, as analysts estimate its sales could reach $3.5 billion to $5 billion annually if it is approved in the U.S. as well. Obesity is an increasingly pressing health problem worldwide, but there aren't many available drug treatments for it.

European authorities have approved the drug as an adjunct to diet and exercise for the treatment of obese patients, or for overweight people who also have type-2 diabetes or dyslipidemia - an abnormally high level of cholesterol in the blood. Tony Whitehead, Sanofi's medical director in the U.K., said at a press conference that the company planned to market the drug as a serious medical treatment, and not as a mere cosmetic tool for slightly plump people.

In an early indication of how the drug is likely to be prescribed, several physicians invited by Sanofi to speak at the press conference said they likely wouldn't prescribe Acomplia to a new obese patient until he had first tried diet and exercise. "On a first appointment, they won't get a prescription for any weight-loss medication," said David Haslam, a physician and chairman of the National Obesity Forum. He said "first-line" treatments, meaning diet and exercise, "will always be used first."

John Betteridge, a physician and professor of endocrinology and metabolism at University College London, said he probably would wait at least three months with a new patient to see whether diet and exercise were working before adding Acomplia.

More drugs in development at
www.chartsbank.com/PipelineList.aspx