Alli News Abstract 1
http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/glaxo-troubled-flu-cuts-fake-alli/2010-01-19
No sooner had GlaxoSmithKline been hit with H1N1 flu disappointments than another problem surfaced: counterfeit versions of its weight-loss product
Alli. The difference is that the flu vaccine and drug woes will definitely decrease sales, while the
Alli fakery could conceivably end up channeling more folks to legit branded versions of the product. Provided it doesn't scare them away altogether.
Here's the deal: The FDA is warning that fake
Alli doesn't contain
orlistat, the real version's active ingredient, but sibutramine, a narcotic that can be dangerous for some people to take. So far, it appears that the fake versions were just sold over the internet, not in retail stores. So the patients who'd been ordering from online pharmacies might turn instead to retail outlets where bonafide
Alli is sold. Not nearly the sort of windfall Glaxo expected to get from flu vaccine sales, but it's something.