Results from a pair of phase III studies of an investigational drug suggest that it is an effective treatment for smoking cessation, weight loss, and as a means of controlling or reducing metabolic syndrome risk factors. Rimonabant is a member of a new drug class called selective CB1 blockers.
Stop Smoking Using Rimonabant
The results from the STudies with Rimonabant And Tobacco Use (STRATUS-US) study and the Rimonabant In Obesity (RIO-Lipids) study were presented here at a late-breaking clinical trials session at the 53rd annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology.
Robert Anthenelli, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ohio, and Jean-Pierre Despres, PhD, professor of medicine and nutrition at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, presented the two studies' results.
Dr. Anthenelli said rimonabant has the potential to be the first "drug to treat the two major risk factors for heart disease: smoking and obesity."
Stop Smoking Using RimonabantAbout a quarter of the rimonabant patients receiving the 20 mg dose stopped smoking in 10 weeks, which was "about twice the quit rate seen in the placebo arm," said Dr. Anthenelli. That quit rate is slightly better than current smoking cessation aids such as nicotine gum or patches, he said.
A bonus is that "these smokers quit without gaining weight," Dr. Anthenelli said. Normal-weight smokers receiving 20 mg of rimonabant gained no weight, while normal-weight smokers receiving placebo gained about 2 pounds. Overweight and obese smokers receiving rimonabant lost a pound compared with a gain of 1 pound and 3 pounds, respectively, in overweight and obese smokers in the placebo group. "And they lost weight without changing diet or increasing exercise," said Dr. Anthenelli. About 68% of the smokers in the study were overweight.
