The FDA has unanimously voted to recommend approval of an injectable drug that melts away "submental fat", better known as the double chin that ruins all your photos.
Double chins are one of the most complained-about aesthetic features, but currently the only option to get rid of it is to effectively suck the fat out using surgery. However, the new drug, called ATX-101, can be injected in a clinic and takes just five minutes.
ATX-101 is made from deoxycholic acid, a naturally-occurring molecule that helps us break down fat. And in this form, it effectively destroys the membranes of fat cells, causing them to burst and then be metabolised by the body. The FDA's decision comes after 19 clinical studies on the drug involving more than 2,600 patients across eight years. You can see some of those results in the image above.
The side-effects include short-term swelling, some pain and bruising - but within two to three days, patients should have healed, and they can walk out of the doctor's surgery straight away without needing to wear a bandage. So, kind of like Botox or any other injectable.
"We are pleased that the FDA advisory committee recognised the importance of providing patients with a clinically-proven treatment option specifically developed to contour submental fullness, a much-cited yet undertreated facial aesthetic complaint," said the chief medical officer of parent company KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Frederick C. Beddingfield, in a press release.
The drug still needs final FDA reviews and approval before doctors can start using it, but it's believed that could happen this year. And while we're not overly keen about yet another drug being used to make people look 'picture perfect', we already know a lot of friends who are going to want to use this. After all, nothing ruins a good selfie like a double chin, amirite?