Daxxify, the newcomer who wants to dethrone Botox

Is this the end of the reign of Botox? At the beginning of September, the American drug agency gave the green light to the marketing in the United States of Daxxify, a product for the treatment of frown lines, these furrows due to muscle contractions that appear with age between the eyebrows . Enough to give some worry wrinkles to the iconic Botox, marketed by the American Big Pharma AbbVie. Enjoying an international reputation, the latter has dominated for more than twenty years the very lucrative market of botulinum toxin injections for aesthetic purposes.

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With an average annual growth of nearly 15% since 2018, its number of followers has continued to grow in recent years, driven in part by the enthusiasm of influencers on social networks. In 2021, the anti-wrinkle thus brought in 2.23 billion dollars (2.23 billion euros) worldwide for the pharmaceutical laboratory. Comfortable income, to which are added the sales, just as juicy (2.45 billion dollars), of the product when it is used for therapeutic purposes.

Because Botox also has medical virtues, although they are less known. It is used in particular in the treatment of migraine, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence or even cervical dystonia (involuntary muscle contractions of the neck). The arrival of Daxxify, already nicknamed “Daxxi” by specialists, could however threaten this empire over the next few years.

uphill battle

The American biotech Revance, which developed it, is not the first to launch an assault on Botox. In 2019, his compatriot Evolus, co-founded by a former pharmaceutical company Allergan (owner of Botox before its takeover by AbbVie in 2019), had already tried to open a breach by launching Jeuveau, a competitor anti-wrinkle at a knockdown price. With nearly $100 million in sales in 2021, however, it has so far only managed to capture a fraction of the market.

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By marketing the Daxxify, Revance hopes to do much better. For this, biotech has a serious advantage over its adversaries, which could facilitate its adoption on the market: a longer duration of action of the smoothing effects of its product on wrinkles. Faced with Botox, whose effects of an injection fade after three to four months on average, those of its rival would last, according to clinical studies, six to nine months.

What reduce, in practice, by half the number of annual injections required for customers. Will that be enough to make his fortune? The battle against the king of Botox could prove to be an uphill battle. AbbVie is not prepared to let competitors encroach on the toes of its flagship product. The company has a significant commercial strike force, and considerable financial resources compared to its young rival.

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