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GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday early
U.S. sales of its new diet pill, Alli , were exceeding expectations,
vindicating its decision to maintain a strong presence in
over-the-counter medication.
Alli,
over the counter diet pill the only non-prescription weight-loss
remedy with U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval was
launched in the United States last month and recorded sales
of 76 million pounds ($156.5 million) in the second quarter.
That figure includes some stockbuilding,
but John Clarke, Glaxo's head of consumer business, said an
estimated 60 percent of sales had reached the consumer and
that 84 percent of patients continued to use Alli diet pills
after 10 weeks on the medicine, an endorsement of early consumer
satisfaction.
an-Pierre Garnier told analysts
in a post-results conference call that the successful launch
of Alli diet pills showed the benefits of Glaxo's keeping
its consumer health business, alongside the larger prescription
operations.
Some analysts have said Glaxo
should sell off its consumer health arm, but Garnier said
that the over-the-counter (OTC) market was an increasingly
attractive opportunity and was being encouraged by governments
eager to save costs.
The OTC drug market is also a vital element of important emerging
countries such as China, he added.
"Not being present
in that market is, in my view, a strategic disadvantage. So
we are very happy in being in over-the-counter, and we are
going to stay there for the foreseeable future," he said.
Alli diet pill is a half-dose version of Roche Holding AG's
prescription medicine Xenical and works by reducing the amount
of fat the body absorbs from food.
Analysts' forecasts for
annual peak sales of Alli diet pills range from around 250
million to 500 million pounds. That means it could be a bigger
seller than Xenical, with sales of 693 million Swiss francs
($576 million) last year, but not quite a $1 billion blockbuster.
It should therefore be a useful but relatively small addition
to the Glaxo supertanker, which had sales of 23.2 billion
pounds in 2006
Source: Source: http://investing.reuters.co.uk/
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