US panel blocks Sanofi''s weight-loss drug

Frankfurt: A US panel has blocked Sanofi Aventis new weight-loss pill as it had been linked to suicides. The decision led to company''s shares registering their biggest drop in more than three years wiping out more than $7 billion in market value.

Sanofi Aventis'' shares closed down €4.26, or 6.3 per cent, at €63, or $83.85, in Paris on Thursday, its biggest one-day drop since April 26, 2004.

Sanofi Aventis, based in Paris, did not get a single vote on Wednesday in favor of its drug, Zimulti, from a US Food and Drug Administration panel, which found that patients'' weight loss did not justify danger of the psychiatric or neurological dangers.

Zimulti, sold as Acomplia in Europe, seemed unlikely to win the US agency''s backing after three patients committed suicide during medical tests. Analysts said additional clinical trials on safety might delay US sales until at least 2009, dealing a blow to the company, whose profit fell in the first quarter.

Acomplia had sales of €31 million, or $41.3 million, last year.