People who dream of finding the fountain of youth in an injection now have a new option.
Amid a surge in cosmetic procedures to gain a younger look, an injectable filler has entered the marketplace aiming to do for the lower face what Botox injections do for the upper portion.
The maker of Botox, California-based Allergan, this month launched a new "dermal filler" called Juvederm to compete with Restylane, a Swedish product sold in the US since 2004 by Arizona-based Medicis to smooth out wrinkles around the nose and mouth.
And it's hoping to tap into a lucrative sector with the global market for dermal fillers in 2005 estimated to stand at US$442 million, according to market research cited by Allergan.
A big part of this is spent on so-called injectable or nonsurgical procedures. Americans spent US$12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2005, with US$8.2 billion on surgical procedures and US$4.2 billion for nonsurgical procedures, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
"In the past few years, 80 percent [of cosmetic procedures] have been nonsurgical," said Lawrence Reed, a plastic surgeon and assist professor of surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
"It's an important way to deal with this part of the aging process. These are short procedures, there's minimal down time," he said.
Although fillers and Botox do not always provide the dramatic results of surgery such as facelifts, "some people get a good enough look so they don't need the surgery," Reed said.
Reed said Juvederm and Restylane are "like spackle, they fill holes" and may be complementary to Botox, which removes wrinkles by relaxing muscles.
Restylane is sold in 70 countries, according to its maker, Sweden's Q-Med. Juvederm was developed by France's Corneal Laboratories -- acquired by Allergan last November -- and is sold in a number of countries under different trade names.
Patients typically pay around US$527 for the injectable filler procedure, according to ASAPS, compared with US$382 for Botox. Each procedure must be repeated within four months to a year to have the best effect.
Unlike Botox, which is a neurotoxin derived from botulism that relaxes the facial muscles near the "frown lines" and the forehead, dermal fillers are based on naturally occurring hyaluronic acid to add volume and moisture to ease facial wrinkles and folds.
Robert Grant, president of Allergan Medical, said the new product can be combined with Botox treatments as part of what the company touts as "total facial rejuvenation."
"Fifteen years ago all we had was collagen, and that felt like rock on your skin," said Los Angeles cosmetic dermatologist Jessica Wu, who is also a consultant to Allergan.
"Now we have wrinkle correction that melts into your own skin and no one can tell you had anything injected," she said.
Eva Lowry, a 43-year-old resident of St. Augustine, Florida, said she was pleased with the results of Juvederm and Botox, the first procedure of its kind she had tried.
"I work hard on physical fitness, but I started to feel like my face was not as youthful as my body," she said in a telephone interview.
"When I went back to work people said I looked 10 years younger," she said.
Allergan broadened its product base and acquired Juvederm's US rights last year when it bought Inamed Corp, outmaneuvering a rival bid from Medicis. The Food and Drug Administration approved Juvederm in June.
But Medicis may be ready to launch a counterattack, and chief executive Jonah Shacknai said they were not worried.
"As always we expect competition," he said.
Under an agreement with Europe-based Ipsen, Medicis is ready to begin marketing a rival for Botox called Reloxin in the US, Canada and Japan.
The rival product, Reloxin, has been selling well outside the US, he said, adding: "We think it will compete extremely well" against Botox."
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