An FDA advisory panel supported approval of Latisse, a drug traditionally used to treat glaucoma, for use in adults who want to have thicker and longer eyelashes. The panel announced the decision to back the drug for use in the United States but also called for more studies to make sure the drug really is safe.

The agency approved the drug Lumigan in 2001 as an eyedrop. Allergan Inc., the drug company that makes Lumigan, is now seeking FDA’s approval to market the new use under the brand name Latisse.

The Latisse study involved 278 people; half used Latisse and the rest used a placebo solution for 16 weeks. At the end of the study, those who used Latisse had thicker, longer and darker eyelashes compared with patients receiving a placebo. A total of four patients in the Latisse and the control group quit during the study period because of side effects like dry eye and eye inflammation.

“I have absolutely no reason to question the efficacy,” panelist M. Roy Wilson, an ophthalmologist from the University of Colorado, was quoted as saying.

The FDA panel recommended further studies to asses Latisse’s use in certain group of patients, such as patients younger than 18, people who suffered the side-effects of chemotherapy, on which the drug has not been tested.

In November, the FDA announced that a product promoted to increase eyelash growth was considered dangerous because it contained bimatoprost, an active ingredient which is used by patients with elevated pressure inside the eye.

The agency said an increased quantity of this substance may damage the optic nerve, as it may decrease the prescription drug’s effectiveness. The applicator tubes that had been sold and distributed by San Jose, California-based Jan Marini Skin Research, Inc. since September 2006 were likely to cause swelling of the retina and inflammation of the eye, according to the FDA.