A study on the safety of the wrinkle relaxer ‘Reloxin’ was just published in Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery‘s March/April issue. The safety and effectiveness of Reloxin was evaluated for moderate to severe forehead wrinkles or ‘glabeller lines.’
The FDA has not yet approved Reloxin, but spokespersons from Medicis Pharmaceutical say clearance is expected later this year. When this occurs, Reloxin could become the first real competitor for Botox in the U.S. cosmetic surgery market – a market which allowed Allergan Inc. to net $1.3 billion in revenue last year with Botox.
One California dermatologist who participated said to Bloomberg news about the study, “the side effects are the same as Botox” and “many of our patients liked it even better.”
Reloxin and Botox are similar in their composition; both contain a particular ‘botulinum toxin’ that has been proven to relax the muscles that cause wrinkles in the face.
Reloxin has actually been sold overseas under the name ‘Dysport’ for about 15 years, but Botox has still managed to claim over 80 percent of the worldwide market for the neurotoxin. One market analyst speculates that “Reloxin may be priced 15 percent lower than Botox” which could allow it to take a significant share of that market.
