GlaxoSmithKline Gets EU OK For Weight-Loss Product Alli
January 21 2009 - 9:09AM
Dow Jones News
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) Wednesday said it has received
approval to sell non-prescription weight-loss product Alli, a key
new growth driver for its consumer healthcare unit, in the European
Union.
The world's second-largest pharmaceutical company plans to
launch Alli in all 27 E.U. member states and Norway in the coming
months.
Alli - which has been on sale in the U.S. since June 2007 as the
only non-prescription weight-loss aid approved by the Food and Drug
Administration - is the over-the-counter version of weight-loss
drug Xenical, first launched in 1998 by Swiss pharmaceutical
company Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX). Compared with Xenical, Alli
contains half the active ingredient.
Known generically as orlistat, it works by preventing fat in
food from being absorbed into the body and can help a person lose
50% more weight than diet alone, according to GSK.
In the first nine months of 2008 Alli generated sales of GBP45
million.
Company Web site: www.gsk.com
-By Elena Berton, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9267;
elena.berton@dowjones.com
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