Alli Diet Drug Information

Alli is the brand name for over-the-counter Xenical. Xenical's low dose version is called Alli in the USA. The drug has received an endorsement from the influential FDA Health Advisory Panel recently.

In 1999, the regulatory agency approved orlistat, marketed as Xenical, for sale as a prescription diet drug. The drug blocks the absorption of fat the first weight-loss drug it has approved for over-the-counter sales.

Now, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare seeks to sell an over-the-counter version of the pill. The new diet pill, Alli, would be the first approved non-prescription diet pill that blocks fat absorption.

Alli diet pill acts by blocking the absorption of about one-quarter the fat a patient consumes. That fat is then passed out of the body in stools, which can be loose or oily as a result. In six-month clinical trials, obese subjects who took orlistat lost on average 5.3 pounds to 6.2 pounds more than did those who were given dummy pills. The manufacturer says it would provide a safer, more effective alternative to the products that are on shelves now.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare seeks to sell this over-the-counter pill. The company intends to package Alli as part of an overall diet and fitness program. The program would emphasis eating a lower-fat diet, to both cut calories and curtail the drug's effect on a user's stools.

Clinical trials indicate that people taking Alli experience fewer gastrointestinal side effects if they stick to a low-fat diet. Alli blocks the body's absorption of dietary fat, which results in flatulence and other unpleasant