Diabetes drug application pulled from U.S. by Sanofi

European pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is giving up the pursuit of selling the obesity drug rimonabant in the U.S. after several setbacks. Rimonabant was Sanofi's largest new drug geared for sale in the U.S., so the French drugmaker, alas, will have to try another one.

Just recently, rimonabant was connected with increased suicidal thinking and depression and was effectively shunned by a U.S. advisory panel, and that action seemed to be the death knell for the drug, which has been released already outside the U.S.

Sanofi did say that it may reintroduce the drug at a future date after its submits the the drug's application to the FDA. Rimonabant has been on the European market since 2006 and sells well there.