Pfizer Follows Sanofi's Lead With Diet Pill

Cannaboid receptor drugs have been receiving a lot of bad press recently

Following the decision by the drug company Sanofi Aventis in regard to its weight loss medication Acomplia, Pfizer has decided to stop its own Phase 3 clinical development on a similar weight loss drug. Martin Mackay who is the president of Pfizer Global Research and Development said that they had decided to focus their resources on developing drugs which had a higher probability of success and getting regulatory approval.

The drug in question (code named CP-945,598) is similar to Acomplia in that it is a cannaboid receptor drug and therefore it works by acting on the brain and tricking the stomach into thinking that you are not hungry. Cannaboid receptor drugs have been receiving a lot of bad press recently after their use was linked to severe depression and higher rates of suicide among users. Pfizer said that they were not completely ruling out the drug for the future but in the current climate they felt that it was prudent to move resources to other areas.

Another large drug company Merck, also said that they would be discontinuing research and development on taranabant which was in the same class as rimonabant, (the clinical name for Acomplia.) These types of drug which work on the brain as opposed to the stomach were once held as the way forward for weight loss medication and were greeted with open arms by health professionals all around the world.

Acomplia was used by most obese people successfully and without serious side effects, but because of its reported link to increased psychiatric problems the benefits were deemed to outweigh the risks. In the future it is likely that drug companies will be focusing their efforts on different types of drugs to deal with weight problems. The market for these drugs is huge with over 60 percent of Americans being classified as overweight or obese and a growing obesity problem becoming apparent all over Europe.