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

See Mentor's new breast implant

Dennis Hammond, MD from Grand Rapids, MI is one of the country's foremost breast implant experts. Below, you can see him showing off Mentor's form stable implant. Officially known as Contour Profile Gel implants, they retain their shape if ruptured.

From Dr. Hammond:

The CPG has been performing very well in both aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery cases. The shapes satisfy the myriad of needs of a wide group of patients, in a simple and easy to use fashion. The Bodylogic system (Ed. Note: Mentor's breast implant sizing system) is easily applied to the use of these devices. Rotation is rare, rupture nearly unheard, and the results have been outstanding.:

These implants, as well as those from competitor Allergan, have been undergoing FDA testing, so as always, no word on when they will be available for use in the US. We'll be back in a few months with an update on these upcoming technologies.

Dr. Jason Pozner

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Dr. David J. Goldberg

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Skin Laser Surgery Specialists NY/NJ

Allergan to release first medical eyelash-boosting makeup

It is amazing how much we have learned about the science of hair. Over two decades ago a medication used for high blood pressure (minoxidil) was shown to grow hair when applied to some men’s scalps. Later was shown that women with thinning scalps could also benefit from this magical potion. This had led to what is now marketed as today’s Rogaine®. The problem was that the medication in general is only useful when topically applied to the scalp.

For the last 20 years promoting hair re-growth has remained an enigma for body areas outside the scalp. Physicians frustrated with their inability to induce hair growth then switched gears and began to focus on laser hair. For the last 15 years we have developed all kinds of lasers and laser-like systems for the removal of unwanted hair. These included ruby, alexandrite, diode and Nd:YAG lasers as well as intense pulsed light sources. These in-office devices have become highly successful and have now led to the development of less powerful, but still somewhat successful home hair removal devices.

So folks can now easily have their hair removed, but how can they re-grow it? Of course there are always hair transplants. These surgical procedures are usually performed on the scalp, but have been successfully undertaken on other locations on the body as well. These kinds of surgical approaches care near impossible to perform for such tough areas as the eyelash region. Women, for years have done all kinds of things to plump up their eyelashes. But results can be very unnatural.

The recent FDA approval of Latisse, by Allergan (the makers of Botox®) may change that. Latisse is the first and only FDA-approved product to enhance eyelashes (making them darker, longer, and thicker). Ther discovery of this remarkable product occurred when physicians noted that another product already on then market for the treatment of glaucoma (Lumigan) was found to promote eyelash growth. Lumigan is applied as eye drops in the eye. Latisse, in contrast, is applied directly to the eyelashes with a special applicator. Today we can grow hair, tomorrow perhaps skin. Who knows what is next?

David J. Goldberg, MD

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY and NJ