The anti-obesity pill Alli has not been sold in France since 2012. The information has been confirmed by GSK. Known for its adverse effects, the laboratory nevertheless evokes a supply problem.
The anti-obesity pill Alli has disappeared from the shelves of your pharmacies! The British laboratory GSK has in fact decided to no longer market this drug in France since 2012. The specialty had, as we often remember, been dcriticized in the past for its side effects (intestinal disturbances, anxiety, liver problems). Its withdrawal from the French market was revealed by the medical journal Prescrire in September and confirmed since by a spokesperson for the pharmaceutical group.
The reasons given by the GSK laboratory
To explain this choice, GlaxoSmithKline puts forward as an explanation, “the occurrence of a problem of supply of the molecule in January 2012.” A decision supported by the deleterious French climate concerning slimming drugs, this in particular “since the case of the Mediator ”, specifies the spokesperson for the group. However, the specialty is still on sale in most other European countries, as well as in the United States.
Other potential reasons
As soon as the drug was launched in France in 2009, Afssaps (the former French drug safety agency) warned patients against the unwanted side effects of the treatment. It was true at the time of serious cases of hepatic damage which had occurred in patients treated with orlistat (Alli) which led in some cases to a liver transplant or even to the death of the patient. “The causal link with orlistat remains difficult to establish but cannot be excluded,” the Agency said at the time.
In view of the seriousness of these hepatic effects, and at the request of Afssaps, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) conducted a re-evaluation of the adverse effects reported with orlistat. At the end of this process, Ema had confirmed that the benefit / risk ratio of proprietary medicinal products containing orlistat remained favorable in the indications of the marketing authorization.
Finally, with regard to Xenical, another orllstat-based drug used to fight obesity, it remains marketed in France by the Swiss Roche laboratories. But unlike Alli, this treatment is subject to medical prescription.
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