With injectable fillers such as Botox® and Juvederm® leading in popularity in the cosmetic industry, it’s hard to imagine a drop in sales any time soon. In North America, facial injectables are classified in four different ways: botulinum toxin (BTX), collagen, Hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers and particle and polymer fillers (PPF). While modest growth is projected for the injectable filler industry, clever marketing and the recession will affect what products come out on top over the next few years.
BusinessWire.com recently reported their predictions for the future of the injectable filler market in North America. In the recent past, numerous additions to the market have been approved for aesthetic use. For companies to get ahead, brand awareness must be created to keep consumers informed. Sculptra Aesthetic was introduced to the PPF market in 2009, which was formerly used to add volume to the faces of patients suffering from AIDS.
The biggest addition, however, was of Medicis’ Dysport® to the BTX market, which was the first injectable to compete with the ever-popular Botox®. While growth was modest for Dysport® at first, execs used clever marketing to create the ‘Dysport® Challenge’ as a way to boost sales. By doing so, the company urged patients to try the new injectable, and if they didn’t like it they would in turn get credit towards their next Botox® treatment. This grew the brand awareness for Dysport®, increased its prevalence in doctors’ offices and boosted sales.
Merz Pharmaceuticals’ Xeomin® is another future threat to Botox®’s throne. Xeomin® was approved by the FDA last month for medical purposes and is currently being used in Europe for aesthetic purposes.
With the withdrawal of Allergan and ColBar LifeScience’s from the collagen market in 2010, it is predicted that we will see excessive shrinking in this area in 2011.
More new products are expected to gain approval in the U.S. and Canada over the next few years, and it will be interesting to see how the market is affected. A flooding of the market could theoretically lower average selling prices as companies try to fight off the competition.
To Your Health & Beauty,
Kent V. Hasen, M.D.
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