Archive for December 3rd, 2008

8 1/2 Pounds Lost in 16 Weeks With New Drug

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

June 17, 2004 — A new drug helped obese people drop up to 8.5 pounds over 16 weeks, researchers report.

Its planned brand name — pending FDA approval — is Acomplia. For now, it’s still going by its generic name rimonabant. But it already has a nickname: the munchies drug. That’s because it works like marijuana in reverse. It blocks cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

Rimonabant curbs appetite. It also cuts the urge to s…