SANOFI-AVENTIS REPORTS PUBLICATION OF RIO TRIAL

Sanofi-aventis has announced that the results of the RIO-North America trial were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The trial evaluated two-year treatment with rimonabant in overweight or obese patients, many of whom were at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease through the presence of additional risk factors including increased waist circumference, elevated blood pressure or abnormal lipid levels.

The findings showed that patients treated with rimonabant 20 mg once daily experienced significant reduction of their waist circumference and body weight as well as improvements in multiple cardiometabolic risk factors, including HDL (good) cholesterol, triglycerides and an estimate of insulin sensitivity.