January 2007 Issues

Cosmetic Surgery Update

Summary: Allergan’s Juvederm is off to a strong start and taking market share from Medicis’s Restylane. ♦ Sales of aesthetic lasers remain strong, particularly in the non-traditional market. The bloom is off Reliant’s Fraxel, which is now getting a run-for-its-money from Lumenis’s ActiveFX, a fractionated CO2 laser. ♦ Cosmetic surgeons are not very concerned about competition from home hair removal devices. ♦ Cynosure’s new liposuction device, Smartlipo, didn’t get a very good reception at the meeting, with some speakers calling it a fraud. ♦ The hot cellulite treatment is Alma Lasers’ Accent, not Syneron’s VelaSmooth. ♦ The launch of Medicis’s Dysport/Reloxin may be relatively slow unless the price is dramatically lower than Allergan’s Botox. ♦ Silicone breast implants are not expected to expand the overall market for breast implants, which is growing at a rate of ~10% per year. Doctors estimated 34% of their implants will be silicone this year, with cost and patient concerns the major barriers to use.