The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be close to approving a new drug that has shown broad promise in addressing craving.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be close to approving a new drug that has shown broad promise in addressing craving, Knight-Ridder reported Feb. 7.

Clinical trials have shown that Acomplia (rimonabant) may be effective in curbing craving for food and nicotine. Drug maker Sanofi-Aventis is eyeing the drug as an anti-obesity medication that could eventually generate billions of dollars in sales annually.

Rimonabant works by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the brain, which are related to hunger as well as nicotine craving. The drug also curbs fatty-acid production in the liver and blocks hormones that increase insulin.

Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. also are developing drugs that act on the cannabinoid system.

Smokers who took Acomplia doubled the quit rate of a control group, and didn't gain weight after quitting.