Brussels allows marketing of weight loss product

The European Commission has granted a non-prescription licence to GlaxoSmithKline to market its weight loss product known as alli (orlistat 60mg).

This was the first time the European Commission approved a non-prescription product for weight loss, the pharmaceutical company said. It said the centrally-approved marketing authorisation meant GSK can introduce alli for adults with a body mass index of 28 kg/m2 or more in all 27 EU member countries.

Monica Abdilla, country manager for GSK consumer healthcare Malta noted that in the US alli successfully helped millions of users lose weight gradually and steadily also and adopt a healthy lifestyle. She said the company would be launching alli in pharmacies throughout Malta soon.

The company said clinical trials indicated that, when used in conjunction with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet, alli could help people lose 50 per cent more weight than by dieting alone. The product, GSK explained, worked by stopping some of the fat consumed from being absorbed into the body and turning into extra kilos.

The product was launched in the US in June 2007 as the only Food and Drug Administration-approved weight loss aid available without prescription

• A summary of product characteristics is available at www.emea.europa.eu.