In a decision that was expected by all of us at Ukmedix the German Ministry of Health has decided that the Acomplia weight loss drug that is made by Sanofi Aventis will not get the full reimbursement status from insurers that its manufacturers were hoping for.

Instead the Ministry of Health has classified it as a lifestyle drug and therefore not as completely essential. However Sanofi Aventis have been pointing out that Acomplia does not just work for weight loss but can help with metabolic factors such as reduction of cholesterol and has been shown also to help diabetic men and women too.

The way the rules work in Germany are that if a drug is correctly classified as essential by the Ministry of Health either the state or health insurers are liable to pay for it if a doctor issues a prescription. If the drug does not get the classification then it is up to the individual to pay for it.

The decision not to give Acomplia the essential status means that its sales will be severely effected in Germany and this has upset Sanofi Aventis greatly who have argued from the outset that their weight loss drug is not just a designer lifestyle drug but is a serious medicine that doesn’t only help with weight loss but also with metabolic factors associated with obesity that no other single drug is able to tackle as yet.

Sanofi-Aventis is not going to take this ruling lying down and has announced that it will be challenging the classification of Acomplia in a German court. The section of the law that is relevant to Sanofi and to Acomplia is called Section 34 and this is what Sanofi says that gives Acomplia the right to proper and full reimbursable classification.

At Ukmedix we have seen the benefits of Acomplia to help obese people and fully support Sanofi efforts to get the Acomplia properly classified in Germany.