The market for weight-loss drugs in Europe changed dramatically yesterday as Sanofi-Aventis was forced to withdraw Acomplia, its anti-obesity drug, from sale, while GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) gained approval for another.

Sanofi was ordered temporarily to withdraw its prescription-only drug from the market after the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) concluded that the benefits of Acomplia no longer outweighed its risks. Patients taking the drug were shown to have a greater risk of developing psychiatric side-effects, including suicidal thoughts.

The drug was rejected by US regulators last year. It was once predicted to be a €2.2 billion (£1.8 billion) block-buster, but turned over only €79 million last year.

Sanofi said that it would comply with the EMEA’s request for a temporary suspension in Acomplia sales and would start talks with nonEU countries where the drug is available, to have sales suspended there as well.

It claimed that Acomplia could still bring significant benefits to obese and overweight patients and said that it would work with healthcare professionals in this process. The drug was hailed as a potential new cure for obesity when it was released in 2006. However, the EMEA announced that it had approved Alli, GSK’s weight-loss treatment, for sale over the counter in Europe. The company hopes to launch Alli, a lower-dose version of Roche’s prescription-only Xenical, in pharmacies in the UK and Europe in time for summer 2009.

When it went on sale in the US last year, Alli made £34 million in sales within three months. It blocks fat being absorbed from food into the body, but can have some socially embarrassing side-effects. Paul Berman, GSK’s vice-president of consumer health Europe, said: “This is a recognition that some products and drugs like Alli are needed to help people help themselves to lose weight. This is the most clinically tested weight loss drug on the market now.”

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax