The new obesity drug Acomplia that was launched in the UK last week and that is being sold online at ukmedix could end up costing the UK National Health Service millions of pounds. The medicine is able to control naturally the appetite and metabolism as well as energy use and even a craving for a cigarette.

If the drug becomes very popular and really works for obese and overweight people as many as 20% of the UK population may end up being eligible for prescriptions for Acomplia. If all these people actually use the Acomplia the payout for the NHS would be huge and run into billions. Interestingly however Sanofi Aventis who make the Acomplia drug say that this money would be well spent as the cost of treating obesity related sickness is far higher that the cost of Acomplia and that prevention is better than cure.

Ukmedix has previously reported that the Acomplia drug is not likely to be dispensed in large quantities until the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) gives it full approval and they can take up to 2 years to do so.  The NICE committee will look at a there own set of data despite the fact that the drug has been tested with more that 6,000 people in America and in the EU and the results showed that about 25% of the people taking Acomplia could show a overall weight loss of 10% after a year.

Around 50% lost more than 5% in body weight and waist circumference (a figure that many weight loss experts say is very important) was reduced by between 6 and 7 centimetres. Acomplia also gives good results with cholesterol and triglyceride blood fats and this is not only due to the weight loss that Acomplia brings on but also from the Acomplia drug itself.

Sanofi Aventis originally tried to get the drug licenced for use as an anti-smoking drug that would reduce the cravings for nicotine but this was not approved despite evidence showing that it could reduce cravings. The regulators in the EU namely the EMEA said that more evidence was needed before they would allow the drug as a smoking cesation drug.

In the meantime Acomplia is being welcomed as a effective weapon in the fight against obesity as 20% of UK citizens are defined as obese with a BMI of more than 30.