The US Food and Drug Administration said it approved an injection designed to melt away double-chin fat.
The agency on Wednesday approved a drug called Kybella for adults with moderate or severe fat below the chin, or submental fat. It’s the first approved drug for Kythera Biopharmaceuticals.
The drug is a synthetic form of deoxycholic acid, a chemical the FDA said is naturally produced by the body and helps it absorb fats. It destroys fat cells by breaking down the cell membrane.
The agency says patients can get up to 50 injections in one sitting, but treatments should be at least one month apart and patients should get no more than six.
Kythera plans to start selling Kybella in the second half of 2015, and said in regulatory filings that it thinks the injection could top $500 million (HK$3.88 billion) in annual sales.
The Westlake, California, company said deoxycholic acid is a safe ingredient found in several other approved drugs. It has also filed for marketing approval in Australia, Canada and Switzerland and wants to market the drug in other countries.