Acomplia - improved glucose control for type 2 diabetes

Sanofi-Aventis said a trial of its Acomplia drug involving patients with type 2 diabetes showed a significant improvement in glucose control compared to insulin.

The company said glucose control was three times more pronounced when rimonabant - the generic name for Acomplia - was used rather than insulin and lifestyle advice alone.

Sanofi-Aventis (nyse: SNY - news - people ) said last year it aims to submit rimonabant for worldwide approval in 2009 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Rimonabant has already been approved by the EU with an indication for treating obesity, and is now on sale in a number of European countries.

But in the US the company expects a four-year delay before gaining approval for the drug, for which it withdrew its new drug application after trials revealed possible risks for patients suffering from depression.

Sanofi-Aventis said in the type 2 diabetes trial, symptoms of anxiety were reported for 14 percent of patients in the rimonabant group, versus 5 percent in the control group, while 14 percent showed symptoms of depression in the rimonabant group, versus 7.5 percent in the control group.