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Sanofi's Acomplia Looses its Ranking

With the emergence of new types of weight loss drugs in the market by Merck & Co. and Pfizer are passing rival products through their labs, thus Acomplia is loosing its stand as a weight loss drug.

It was anticipated that Acomplia would get the approval of FDA, but the decision was delayed till April. With this delay in the emergence of Acomplia, other drug makers got time to manufacture drugs with the same use and effectiveness. An expected amount of $ 7 billion was expected out of Acomplia.

Acomplia works by blocking hunger signals in the brain and rival companies like Bristol - Myers Squibb Co and Merck have already starting testing pills that work in the same fashion as Acomplia. The shares of Bristol - Myers have surged about 10%, after a newsletter stated that the drug maker would combine with Sanofi.

Bankers were hired to advice the US company if it should make an offer after it ousted its CEO four moths ago. Andrew Fellows stated that Sanofi will face three challenges. Generic competition on key drugs, key shareholders willing to sell, and the question mark over the delay of Acomplia in the US” Sanofi shares have shed 11% in the past 12 months and dropped 4.4% this week. They lost 10 cents, to €67.35 at 3:36 p.m. in Paris today.

Cosmetics maker L’Oreal SA and French oil company Total SA are anticipated to sell their stakes and they are known to control almost quarter of Sanofi’s shares. Acomplia was introduced in Europe by the world’s third largest drug maker. Merck, which is situated in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, is right behind with its own medicine, by the name of MK-0364, which causes the same side effects and uses the same pathways.

The drugs fall into the category of compounds called the CB1 antagonists. The working procedure is through pathways which are not tried and molecular in nature, and weight loss can occur on a wider scale as compared to older pills. The medicines block receptors that regulate hunger and food intake in the brain as well as directly on fat cells. Sales estimated are $700 million by 2012 by the pill approximately two years after capturing the pharmacy shelves, as it was stated by Merrill Lynch & Co.

There is a requirement of new products by many drug makers. Plavix was needed by the US Company which accounted for third of 2005 revenue, which sustained its earnings as it develops newer treatments. In the third quarter there was a major fall in Sanofi’s sales.

Pfizer plans to eliminate around 10% of its total workforce as its best seller Lipitor faces patent expiry. The diet drug that was only available for sometime was Xenical along BASF AG’s Meridia; Until Acomplia was introduced last year. Meridia causes a sense of fullness in the brain, and can be addictive for some. This drug is currently sold by Abbott Laboratories.

Patients who are known to take Acomplia have been reported to shed more weight than its predecessors, which has reported to have been around 14 pounds in a year but in conjunction with a low calorie intake. The side effects in regard to its intake have been depression and mod swings, but with no reported addiction and digestive disturbances.

People are known to be obese in America because of a sedentary lifestyle and fatty diets, and Acomplia is the ice breaker according to Donny Wong.

Around $30 billion a year is spent on weight loss products in the US alone, said Nick Turner, an analyst at Mira baud Securities Ltd. in London. The sale of Acomplia in Europe is around $3.90 a day in Europe which is very little as compared with hospital stay.