Evolence: A New Breed of Fillers

Recently, new wrinkle filler called Evolence has been getting a lot of attention, especially after Demi Moore and other Hollywood types have admitted using it.

This is an exciting time in cosmetic surgery as many new and effective products have become available.  As the minimally invasive revolution continues, patients find it difficult to take precious time away from work or play and want significant lasting results with minor recovery.  Enter Evolence!

Evolence is new to the United States after recent FDA approval, but is the number one filler in Israel and has been used outside of the US for ten years.

What sets Evolence apart from other wrinkle fillers is its unique collagen composition.  While most of the other popular fillers are made of synthetic substances, Evolence is the first all natural filler.  It is made from porcine tendon which has the closest structure to human collagen and has been used for decades in heart valves, skin grafts and other medical and surgical products.  Although collagen fillers are not new, they fell out of favor due to two things.  One was that patients were allergic to the older bovine collagen fillers.  Evolence has a unique proprietary process of removing the allergic components of collagen and no allergy testing is required!  This is a huge and new step for injectable collagen fillers.  The other drawback of previous collagen fillers was that although they did a good job, they simply did not last.  Evolence has a patented Glymatrix technology which is a sophisticated cross linking process that extends the length of the filler for up to or over a year.  I can speak personally to this filler.  I was chosen to be one of the teaching staff for Evolence and attended an injection training session in January of 2008 in the Cayman Islands.  The meeting was off shore as new fillers that are not FDA approved cannot be injected on US soil.  The instructors were offered free filler, so I had my smile lines injected.  As I type this blog entry it is exactly one year later and my filler is still present.

The main difference between Evolence (the new collagen) and other fillers is that Evolence actually becomes part of your tissue.  It is collagen and is designed to replace the collagen we lose due to aging.  When injected, instead of being recognized as a foreign body (like most fillers) it is recognized as collagen and the body integrates it into the natural surrounding tissue and even grows blood vessels into it.  It also causes the body to produce some new collagen which can add to the result.  Pretty cool.

Perhaps the biggest advantages of Evolence is the fact that since collagen has many special properties, there is less swelling, pain and bruising with Evolence.  It is great for the patient who wants treated but has a big party in several days.

Right now Evolence is only FDA approved for the nasolabial folds (smile lines) but an new product called Evolence Breeze will be available for lip injections and is used very successfully in other countries.

Since new fillers seem to come and go every month (Artefil went out of business last in December 2008 ) it is critical for surgeons and patients to critically evaluate all new products before recommending them to patients.  Having had Evolence treatment on my own smile lines as well as using it on my patients, I can say that this product is a welcome addition to the armamentarium of cosmetic surgery providers that utilize injectable wrinkle fillers on their patients.  To find out more about Evolence visit www.evolence.com and for more information about cosmetic facial surgery by Dr. Niamtu in Richmond, Virginia visit www.lovethatface.com

 

Joe Niamtu, III DMD

Cosmetic Facial Surgery

Richmond, Virginia

www.lovethatface.com

Dysport: the new “Botox”

If Allergan’s Botox is Goliath, then Medicis and their new neurotoxin is David.  No one can argue that Botox has enjoyed a monopoly in the United States for past 15 years.  After all, Botox was a true paradigm shift in cosmetic surgery.  Never before, without surgery, could a patient have wrinkles disappear.  The introduction of Botox was something so different and so easy that it truly heralded in a new era known as minimally invasive surgery.  What began as a “pretty poison” has grown into “cosmetic maintenance” and now women and men get regular Botox injections with the same regularity that they get their hair colored or teeth cleaned.  Botox has not only continued to be safe and effective, but has gone on to treat many conditions from headaches to hemorrhoids.

Botox has gone largely unchallenged and Allergan has become a corporate giant due to its sales.  Second to Viagra it is the largest selling drug.  A brief challenge came in the “at the turn of the last century” with Myoblock, a similar product but chemically different.  Unfortunately for Myoblock, it did not live up to the effectiveness of Botox, and its popularity was short lived.  It is still used for the few patients that have a resistance to Botox, but is a small player.

Dysport is chemically very similar to Botox and has been used in the United Kingdom for 15 years.  It varies from Botox in its biochemistry and protein structure but basically does the exact same thing.  This drug has recently received FDA acceptance and will be sold in the United States under the same name.  Dysport will make a big bang with the media upon it final FDA acceptance and rumors will fly.  The Dysport FDA trials showed that Dysport took effect somewhat faster than Botox and basically lasted the same amount of time, about three months.  Why challenge the king of neurotoxins (more politically correctly called neuromodulators) with a drug that basically does the same thing.  I call it Coke versus Pepsi marketing.  Consumers and surgeons desire choices in everything from clothes, to cars to, carpet and want choices.  There is also some bragging rights from being the “new kid on the block” (just ask Red Bull).  Cosmetic consumers and media are fascinated by “new” technology and if it is new then it must be better.  Frequently this does not pan out, but a well marketed and effective competitor can certainly gain market share.  When all the US automakers were getting bailed out by the Federal government, Toyota (who was a newcomer to this country) remained strong.

To cut to the chase, Dysport is exciting because it is new and is also taking on heavyweight Botox.  It is likely to become a popular competitor.  What remains to be seen, and could make the difference in the wrinkle wars, is how Dysport is priced in comparison with Botox.  If Medicis significantly undercuts Allergan, Dysport could potentially displace the king.  I doubt that this will happen as corporate America is not fond of less profit.  A similar scenario occurred with Restylane, the revolutionary lip and wrinkle filler from Medicis.  This was the first new filler that was FDA approved and made a meteoric rise to the top of facial injectables.  There was no significant competition for about 4 -5 years until Allergan obtained FDA approval for Juvederm.  In the pre release period, much speculation occurred as to whether Allergan would significantly undercut the pricing of Restylane.  Guess what?  They did not.  Their pricing was almost identical and Juvederm no doubt took a chunk out of the filler sales dominated by Allergan.  Competition is generally a good thing as it offers the public more choices and can sometimes drive down prices, but don’t look for this with aesthetic companies.  They figure if patients will spend $500 for X, then they will spend it for Y.  Time will tell.

To find out more about Botox, Dysport and other cosmetic facial surgery procedures, visit www.lovethatface.com.

 

Joe Niamtu, III DMD

Cosmetic Facial Surgery

Richmond, Virginia

www.lovethatface.com