A little healthy competition

The day the aesthetic community has been waiting for with bated breath: finally, a competitor for Botox has entered the field. The "new" kid on the block is named Dysport (also known as Reloxin).

With the same active molecule as Botox (Botulinum Toxin Type A), Dysport has actually been used outside of the U.S. for years - for both neurological applications and cosmetic use. The FDA approved Dysport for cosmetic use in the U.S. in April 2009, and Dysport's distribution company, Medicis (the same folks who bring you Restylane and Perlane), began shipping product to physicians' offices a few days ago. And like Botox, Dysport was approved only for cosmetic use on glabellar lines (those pesky wrinkles between the brows), and with the same "blackbox" warning.

By all accounts in the medical literature, the efficacy of Dysport is similar to Botox; some anecdotal reports claim that the Dysport seems to "kick in" more quickly than Botox and that it lasts a few weeks longer on average. Close reading of the tiny print of the FDA medication guide, however, is more vague - no claims here about being any faster or longer.

Bottom line for patients? Hopefully competition will be good - Botox has long maintained a stranglehold on the effective treatment of glabellar lines, which left doctors and patients with no choice when Botox's parent company, Allergan, steadily raised prices every year. Broken down per treatment, it looks like Dysport might be up to 25% cheaper than Botox. We'll have to wait and see how Allergan responds to that...