The experimental diet drug Acomplia helped patients take off weight at nearly four times the rate a placebo did in a study and then helped patients keep it off in the second year of usage according to a study released by the American Heart Association today. The drug is manufactured by a French company called Sanofi-Aventis.

The results of the study were released at a news conference where Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, the head of the obesity research center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York announced the results. 'They achieved and maintained an average weight loss of 19 pounds compared to 5.1 pounds in the placebo group,' Dr. Pi-Sunyer said.

In addition, taking the drug resulted in higher levels of HDL or 'good colesterol' and lowered triglycerides.

'I think you're getting a double whammy. One is related to the weight loss and the other to the lipid improvement,' Pi-Sunyer said.

The study was conducted over two years on 3,040 patients in North America. The drug has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.