Botox sales holding steady despite bad economy

According to an article by Natasha Singer in Wednesday's New York Times, Allergan is reporting a slight drop in sales of Botox for the fourth quarter of 2008.

From the article:

"The company reported that sales of Botox — both for wrinkle-smoothing and for medical problems like eyelid spasms — fell about 3 percent, to about $329 million in the fourth quarter, compared with the corresponding quarter in 2007.

Meanwhile, Allergan’s sales of skin-plumping injections — called dermal fillers or facial fillers — fell 8.8 percent, to about $56 million in the quarter, compared with the year-earlier period.

The company’s sales of breast implants were about $71 million in the fourth quarter of last year, down 12 percent compared with the same period in 2007.

“You could forecast that with implants, but the bigger question was, ‘How have injectables been holding up?’ ” said Gary Nachman, an analyst with Leerink Swann, a health care investment bank. “Now, even the injectables have been impacted significantly.”

The sky is not falling. This is actually good news for Botox, as we would have expected a bigger drop. If anything, only a 3% drop in filler and a 9% drop in filler is pretty strong in this economy.

Dr. Jason Pozner
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Dr. David J. Goldberg
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Skin Laser Surgery Specialists of NY/NJ