Sanofi-Aventis, developer of Acomplia (rimonabant), told financial analysts on Jan. 30th it is "very, very confident" it will be permitted to begin selling the highly anticipated weight-loss drug in the United States in the spring of this year.

"We can only report that our collaboration with the FDA is excellent. We have developed the product in very, very close cooordination," Hanspeter Spek, executive vice-president of pharmaceutical operations said on a conference call.

"Now, of course, we are preparing for the upcoming launch of Acomplia," Spek said. "We remain very, very confident we will be able to launch the product in the second quarter of 2006."

Read more about Acomplia being launched in the US at http://www.dietdrugreport.com/News/news-013006.htm.