But there is reason to doubt that Sanofi's success with Acomplia will come from obesity alone.
And a merger might force Bristol to give up its own promising Acomplia-like drug.
That was split evenly across two different doses of Acomplia and a sugar pill.
Rimonabant was launched in the United Kingdom and some European countries under the brand name Acomplia.
So Sanofi has been deftly presenting its Acomplia data at cardiology meetings, sending heart doctors aflutter.
Raising good cholesterol is among Acomplia's salutatory effects as well, but Lipitor-torcetrapib appears to be far more potent.
Acomplia blocks the cannabinoid cell receptor famous for giving pot smokers the munchies.
Sanofi, on the other hand, has faced high-profile FDA delays, particularly on Acomplia.
Acomplia, from Sanofi-Synthelabo (nyse: SNY - news - people ), could be available in two years.
At that time, Acomplia, a drug that may help patients both lose weight and quit smoking, will hit the market.
That would make the market for Acomplia considerably bigger than just people who want to lose weight or kick a nicotine habit.
Sanofi's new entrant, Acomplia, which is expected to be submitted to the FDA this year, is the exception that proves the rule.
Acomplia also helped patients keep the weight off, according to two-year data presented here at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.
Rimonabant is being developed under the trade name Acomplia by French drugmaker Sanofi-Synthelabo (nyse: SNY - news - people ).
If Sanofi can show that Acomplia helps return arteries to a healthier, younger state, cardiologists could conceivably start prescribing it to many at-risk patients.
Another entrant that could be tarnished even before the final data is in: a new obesity pill that is similar to Acomplia, from Sanofi-Aventis.
One motive: Sanofi's Acomplia, an experimental medicine for treating obesity and helping patients stop smoking, also seems to raise good cholesterol and fight heart disease.
Eric Topol, chairman of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, is planning a second trial to see if Acomplia prevents heart attacks, strokes and deaths in heart patients.
Though Acomplia was initially designed as a weight-loss drug, Sanofi researchers had found by 2001 that the affected receptors play a role in how the body processes fat.
Add to that the fact that Sanofi is pushing a philosophy that is radically different from Bristol's, going after big-market blockbuster drugs like Acomplia, which is for obesity.
Acomplia may cause, in a few patients, nausea and depression.
Neurological side effects seem the most likely reason for the long delay--and they could conceivably prevent Acomplia from joining the ranks of blockbuster drugs like Plavix and Lipitor, the Pfizer cholesterol pill.
Sanofi-Aventis ' (nyse: SNY - news - people ) drug, Acomplia, helped overweight patients lose an average of 19 pounds--about four times as much as dieters on a sugar pill.
Another entrant that could be tarnished even before the final data is in: a new obesity pill that is similar to Acomplia, from Sanofi-Aventis (nyse: SNY - news - people ).
The failure of Zimulti (formerly known as Acomplia) resulted partly from the company's decision to study the drug mainly in obesity trials where many patients dropped out, making it more difficult to judge the drug's risks.
Sid Smith, a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, commented that he would hope the Acomplia could be used to "jump-start" overweight patients so that they could learn to eat better and exercise more.
"It's promising and also a bit scary, " says Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic who is working on another obesity drug, the much anticipated Acomplia from Sanofi-Aventis (nyse: SNY - news - people ).
Neurological side effects seem the most likely reason for the long delay--and they could conceivably prevent Acomplia from joining the ranks of blockbuster drugs like Plavix and Lipitor, the Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) cholesterol pill.
Along with helping heavy patients lose weight (it doesn't seem to work as well on thinner patients), Acomplia also raises good cholesterol, cuts bad cholesterol, reduces triglicerides and generally seems as if it should reduce the risk of heart disease and other obesity-related killers.
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