France's Afssaps to review four drugs

The French health products safety agency, the Afssaps, is to carry out a detailed investigation on four new drug products ahead of commercialization in France.

The first is Sanofi-Aventis' anti-obesity drug Acomplia (rimonabant). The agency envisages a close investigation of adverse side effects to encourage the sensible use of the product. Pfizer's Champix (varenicline) for severe tobacco addiction; Gardasil - Merck & Co and Sanofi's vaccine for the treatment of uterine cancer and Procter & Gamble's Intrinsa, a testosterone patch for the stimulation of desire in post-menopausal women will also be scrutinized. The agency says it will prepare a "risk management plan" for these four drugs in order to follow any side effects more efficiently.