- Prescribing Advice for GPs - https://www.prescriber.org.uk -

Rimonabant licence to be suspended

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has recommended that the product licence for rimonabant (Acomplia®) is suspended. This announcement has reached the general media (BBC).

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has concluded that the benefits of rimonabant no longer outweigh its risks and the marketing authorisation should be suspended across the European Union (EU). This decision has been reached because post-marketing experience indicates that serious psychiatric disorders may be more common than in the clinical trials

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have written to healthcare professionals (PDF) with the following advice:

Action: Clinicians should be aware of the licence suspension. No new prescriptions should be issued and patients currently using this medication should be advised to return it to a pharmacy for destruction.