UPDATE: May 2007. The drug has been re-named Zimulti in the US.
UPDATE Jun 13 2007: An FDA advisory panel of outside experts unanimously recommended that the regulatory agency not approve the novel weight-loss drug for sale in the United States. It is unlikely that this drug will be approved before 2010 (if at all).
UPDATE July 1 2007: Sanofi has now withdrawn it's application for approval in the USA.
Background
Rimonabant (brand name Acomplia) has been pitched as the blockbuster weight loss drug of the decade. The company manufacturing the drug, Sanofi-Aventis believes that sales will reach $5.2 billion per year by 2010. That is a staggering amount of money.
Investors are getting swept up in the buzz, and desperate consumers are falling over themselves to get an opportunity to try the drug. However it is currently before the FDA awaiting approval - which some believe may come during early/mid 2006. Acomplia blocks cannabinoid (CB) receptors in the brain. The CB receptors are believed to play a role in controlling food consumption and dependence / habituation. People often refer to the cannabis-induced "munchies" or hunger pangs. Acomplia attempts to do the opposite.
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Start making too many comments about "Big Pharma" and people think you're a conspiracy theorist. However - it's right to be a little suspicious about the pharmaceutical industry. The amounts of money poured into drug marketing are so huge as to be incomprehensible. 