ZIMULTI NEWS

Many people in the weight loss profession as well as the overweight patients they treat are eagerly waiting to find out if the FDA will approve the new diet drug Rimonabant for sale in the United States under the brand name Zimulti. Here is a piece of Zimulti news. On March 26, 2007, French drug manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis announced that the FDA was set to review the pros and cons of the drug on June 13th. A hearing before an independent advisory panel of the FDA was to be presented with the pros and cons of Zimulti. Sanofi-Aventis has been hopeful that Zimulti will be approved for sale in the United States some time this summer. However, so far that approval has not been granted.

Zimulti studies

A number of studies have already been conducted on Zimulti with promising results. The drug appears to be able to facilitate significant and lasting weight loss during the first twelve months of use. Not only did patients who took Zimulti in trials lose a significant amount of weight, but weight loss was also accompanied by a decrease in waist circumference of more than three inches on average. This is important since abdominal obesity is a risk factor for heart disease.

Other risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, were also reduced in subjects who were given Zimulti in clinical trials. A 23% increase in HDL (good) cholesterol and a 15% reduction in triglycerides were observed in one study. Further, glucose tolerance and insulin levels appear to improve with Zimulti.

In the same study in which cholesterol levels improved, about half of patients with metabolic syndrome who received a 20 mg dose of Zimulti daily no longer had the condition at the end of the study. Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which overweight people have a number of risk factors for obesity including insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, meaning that the body cannot adequately use insulin to metabolize sugar. The fact that Zimulti may help improve cholesterol and glucose levels in patients who use it for weight loss is one of the reason there is so much excitement surrounding the new drug.

Among the concerns the FDA needs to review is a possible link to depression and other psychiatric problems in patients who use Zimulti. Such side effects are due to the fact that the drug works on CB-1 receptors in the brain. Sanofi-Aventis was confident that the information it had for the FDA would clear the drug for approval. The company “is pleased to have the opportunity to present its data on Rimonabant and to exchange with experts,” a representative of the company said in a statement about the FDA hearing. Rimonabant is the generic name for Zimulti.