Best new concept at ASAPS 2009 - Revance therapeutics

Sounds like science fiction, right? - a wrinkle-fighter that works without needles...

One of the coolest products in development that I heard about at the ASAPS meeting belongs to a company called Revance therapeutics, based in Palo Alto, California. They seem to be the first ones to have cracked the problem of getting large molecules into the skin. Usually, large molecules can not be absorbed transdermally, so relatively few medications can be compounded in a gel or patch formula.

While there are countless applications for this drug-delivery technology, their first commercial application using this technology is with botulinum toxin (aka Botox), creating a gel that you put on the surface of the skin, in the area of the animation wrinkles, and presto! - you get the expected Botox-like relaxation effect - no needles involved.

It's still in clinical testing, and is not yet FDA approved, but the presentation I saw of their phase I results for wrinkles in the lateral canthal (crow's feet) area were impressive. The stuff works! Applying the gel in the armpit area also works to reduce excessive sweating, again without the multiple injections we currently use.

Besides working for Botox, the same technology could be applied to a number of other drugs. Imagine, for example, using this idea with insulin - diabetics wouldn't need to use needles.

This could be a real game changer, folks.