The FDA ordered Lancôme to tone down their ads for the Génifique range of products. The original ads state that the product “boosts the activity of genes’ and will ‘stimulate cell regeneration to reconstruct skin to a denser quality.’
But only an approved drug could make such claims, according to the FDA. The action may have implications for the marketing of other stem cell cosmeceuticals on the market and in the pike.
In a letter to Lancôme’s parent organization L’Oreal, the FDA wrote “the claims on your web site indicate that these products are intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body, rendering them drugs…’Your products are not generally recognized among qualified experts as safe and effective for the above referenced uses.’
L’Oreal must amend the ads within 15 days or risk having the products removed from U.S. stores..
[Source: media reports]
