Diet Pills Alli: Low-Dose Xenical

Claims that diet drug rimonabant (Acomplia / Zimulti) offers benefits beyond those associated with weight loss may not be justified, according to a new report by independent British medical experts.

The diet drug has been sold as Acomplia in the U.K. since June 2006 for treatment of obese and some overweight adults, and developer Sanofi Aventis has claimed some of the improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors observed in clinical trials cannot solely be attributed to weight loss.

Cardiometabolic risk factors -- including low HDL (good) cholesterol, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, elevated fat levels in the blood, high blood pressure and insulin resistance -- in combination increase a person's chance of developing heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes.

Acomplia "has a beneficial effect on blood glucose and lipid levels -- a more beneficial effect than would be expected from weight loss alone," Sanofi claims on its website.

But experts writing in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on May 30th, said there was no proof in the clinical trials that Acomplia had any beneficial effects outside those expected by weight loss.

"It might be related to increased activity based on the lifestyle advice given to participants at the start of the trials," according to their report. "Furthermore, it is not known whether rimonabant's effects on individual risk factors translate into a reduced long-term likelihood of cardiovascular events."

The experts said the trials also showed rimonabant to have no effect on LDL cholesterol and little or no effect on high blood pressure.

While the drug is available in the U.K., the country's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) is still weighing whether and under what conditions the drug should be paid for by the National Health Service.

"Rimonabant has not been directly compared with other, less expensive, drug treatments for obesity. Also, as with these other treatments, it is not known whether rimonabant reduces the likelihood of obesity-related diseases, such as cardiovascular problems," the researchers concluded.

They said Xenical (orlistat) "is the drug for obesity for which there is the most evidence for efficacy and safety to date, and we have previously concluded that it is a reasonable option for obese patients where diet and exercise and/or behavioural measures alone have failed.

"On current evidence, we do not believe that rimonabant represents a significant advance for patients with obesity," they said.

Source: http://www.dietdrugreport.com/News/news-053007.htm

Xenical's (orlistat 120mg) is not going over-the-counter, but a weaker version of it called Alli is. GlaxoSmithKline will make sure their "fat-buster" is on shelves by June. Alli (orlistat 60mg) is not a magic pill. It can assist with weight loss, but you also must exercise and eat healthy. Alli sits in your gut and grabs hold of fat from your meals before your body can digest it and incorporate it into your thighs. It zaps about one-fourth of the fat from a meal and is not needed if you have a fat-free meal.

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European regulators have cleared the way for GlaxoSmithKline Plc to sell an over-the-counter version of Xenical, Roche Holding AG's prescription-only medicine for obesity.

The European Medicines Agency said on Friday its experts had recommended granting marketing authorisation for Glaxo's low-dose version of orlistat -- the active ingredient in Xenical -- based on the safety and efficacy of Roche's original product.

Glaxo's non-prescription drug was approved in February in the United States, where it is being launched under the brand name Alli.

Source: http://investing.reuters.co.uk/

In the middle of the Avandia blowup, GlaxoSmithKline this week is launching the new over-the-counter diet pill "Alli." The company says it's spending 150 million bucks on the first-year marketing of the formerly prescription-only Xenical from Roche.

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Imagine if you could totally transform your looks just by popping a pill. No need to spend hours down the gym undergoing punishing workouts in pursuit of a perfectly proportioned body, no fake tans, sunbeds or hours baking on the beach to get the perfect golden glow, no need for time-consuming facials or expensive anti-ageing treatments, just swallow a pill or two with your breakfast, and you’re done.

It sounds like the sort of bizarre prediction that 1960s futurologists made about the year 2000. But, astonishingly it’s the underground beauty trend that could have dire consequences.

Earlier this month, the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), the US body that approves and regulates drugs, cosmetics and supplements, agreed to let pharmaceutical giants Glaxo SmithKline sell a weight-loss drug, Alli, over the counter.

The drug is set to hit shelves in June this year. But, many people won’t have to wait until June to get their hands on it - despite the fact that it is still a prescription-only product.

The boom in online pharmacies and web-based drug sales has meant that, in a few clicks of a mouse you can have access to a number of drugs that, if their claims are to be believed, could do pretty much anything, from whittling down your waist size to ridding you of body hair.

Some of these drugs are prescription only, others may not even be licensed in this country, but if you’re willing to pay, there’s an unscrupulous dealer willing to sell.

Alli in the form of Xenical or Orlistat has been readily available on the internet for some time. It works by inhibiting the absorption of fat so that about 30% of the fat that you eat is passed through the body undigested.

Prescribed by a doctor, who can explain that it needs to be taken in conjunction with a low fat diet, it has the potential to be a useful and effective drug.

In the hands of someone who doesn’t understand how it works, and thinks it gives them carte blanche to eat what they like and still lose weight, you run the risk of, at the very least, suffering a number of unpleasant gastro-intestinal side effects.

But these risks don’t seem to deter a growing number of people who think that illicitly acquired drugs could offer a no pain, all gain route to the body beautiful.

Xenical is only one of a number of drugs being used and abused in this way. Last week the Mail revealed that a number of ‘diet’ drugs were being bought over the internet.

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The landscape for weight loss is about to change. A diet pill that once needed a doctors prescription is soon to hit stores. But before you think this is a "magic" pill, there are some "interesting" side effects even the company wants you to know.

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Diet pill alli (low-dose orlistat) will officially go on sale on June 15th, according to distributor GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

While the pricing of the drug has not been officially announced, a starter pack that includes 60 alli capsules (enough for three weeks assuming that you take one before each meal), the alli Shuttle (a carrying case for your pills), and several booklets including a calorie and fat counter and a daily journal is expected to cost between $50 and $60.

An alli starter pack that includes 90 alli capsules (enough for a month assuming that you take one before each meal) is expected to cost between $65 and $70.

An alli refill package -- consisting solely of 120 alli capsules (enough for 40 days) -- is expected to cost between $75 and $85.

Glaxo, meanwhile, has released the first two television commercials of what is ultimately expected to be a $100 million plus first-year blitz for the first FDA-approved over-the-counter diet drug.

Both of the first two commercials can be viewed by those who have missed them on television via the video sharing website YouTube.

As part of the prelaunch educational campaign for the diet pill that Glaxo agreed to at the insistence of the FDA, the first two commercials are very slick but soft-sell and are designed to push people to Glaxo's internet website, myalli.com, which is expected to play a major role in the company's marketing.

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