According to the Acomplia Report, “It’s now official. If diet drug Acomplia (rimonabant) is ultimately approved for sale in the United States, the prescription diet pill will go on the U.S. market not as Acomplia but as Zimulti.”
While this is bad news for the Acomplia Report, which will have to change it’s name, I guess, and is perhaps a mild setback for Sanofi-Aventis, which plans to market the diabetes drug in the US, it is definitely good news for bloggers like the jokers over at the Wall Street Journal Health Blog who quipped “To us, the new name seems to promise a mysterious Italian delicacy — ‘We’d like the Zimulti with clams, please” (see “What’s in a Name? Too Much for Acomplia“).
The WSJ guys think Zimulti is a good name for an Italian main course, whereas I think it’s a great name for an Italian dessert, which makes the name much more ironic because sugary desserts may be the last thing a diabetes drug name should conjure up in the minds of patients.
Apparently, FDA thinks the name Acomplia accomplishes too much by implying that it accomplishes too much and therefore the name itself might be misleading!
Zee Multi Drug!
P.S. I just had to elevate the following anonymous comment to an honored place within the body of this posting:
I think Zimulti came from a twisted English language branding workshop with only Dehecq and LeFur in the room. When considering that rimonabant is being tested for MULTIple indications, they both exclaimed at the same time about its uniqueness and appeal “Eet ees Zi-Multi drogue” (it is the multi-drug). If you’ve ever heard Dehecq speak English you know his accent is pretty thick and this is completely plausible. I participated in the original branding workshop for the drug and I suggested “Butt-Off” since it applies for both smoking cessation and weight control. Nobody in the room got the joke. Maybe that’s why I no longer work there, ha ha.
