Diet drug rimonabant (Acomplia / Zimulti) was approved for sale on April 3rd by Switzerland for treatment of obese or overweight patients with at least one type of associated cardiovascular risk.

The approval by Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, is similar to the EU marketing approval last June, where the drug was cleared for use in combination with diet and exercise for overweight and obese patients with linked health risks such as type 2 diabetes.

Sanofi-Aventis said regulator Swissmedic authorized the use of the drug for "for obese patients (BMI greater than 30) or for overweight patients (BMI over 27) with at least one associated cardiovascular risk factor, after insufficient weight reduction following physical activity or alimentary adaptation."

Switzerland is a relatively small market, and the news of Acomplia's approval hardly offsets recent disappointing announcements on reimbursement by state social security systems in the large EU countries of France and Germany.

The highly anticipated obesity drug also remains stalled in the key United States market , where it now is scheduled to be reviewed by the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee at a meeting scheduled for June 13th.