Diet drug Acomplia (rimonabant) on Feb. 6th received a “‘favorable recommendation” for reimbursement by French health insurance companies and state social security plans for use limited to obese patients with type 2 diabetes insufficiently controlled by customary diabetes drugs.

The independent Transparency Committee, however, apparently did not recommend reimbursement for patients who are overweight or obese but not diabetics, according to a terse announcement by Sanofi-Aventis.

“The patients who may benefit from a reimbursed prescription are those associating obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30) with type 2 diabetes, insufficiently controlled by a mono-therapy of metformin or sulfonylurea, with a HbA1c level between 6.5 and 10,” the Committee said.

The next step is for the French government to decide if it will follow this recommendation and then the proportion of the cost to be refunded.