Botox may help incontinence, study indicates

The anti-wrinkle injection Botox, made of the botulinum toxin, may lessen episodes of Urinary Incontinence, researchers said on Tuesday in a study paid for by the drug's maker, Allergan Inc.

Among 59 individuals tracked over a 26-week period, patients given the botulinum toxin injection had an average 32 percent to 58 percent drop in incontinence events, versus no change in a placebo group.

The most significant side effects occurred in the groups getting Botox. Rates of urinary tract infections were about 21 percent among patients in a low-dose group, 31 percent in a higher-dose group, and about 14 percent in the placebo group.

Results of the study, performed by researchers at the University Hospital Balgrist in Zurich, Switzerland, were presented at a medical meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

Botox, approved to smooth wrinkled skin, is Allergan's biggest product, earning the company about $176 million in the most recently reported quarter. It works by paralyzing facial muscles.

But sales were lighter than expected and are seen slowing by analysts, leading the company to test the drug for new uses.