Valeant Pharmaceuticals buys Sculptra

In a $425 million deal, Valeant Pharmaceuticals has purchased the dermatology unit of Sanofi-Adventis.  For us, this means that Valeant will now be in charge of marketing Sculptra, the facial injectable filler agent.

Sculptra is different than other dermal injectable fillers, like Restylane or Juvederm. It stimulates your body to produce some lost collagen, which can gradually improve the quality of the skin and reduce wrinkling and deep hollows. It also lasts up to two years. It's been quite helpful in restoring hollow cheeks and temples, as well as improving deep naso-labial folds. It's quite popular here at our Orlando office.

According to our Sculptra rep, we may be seeing more direct-to-consumer marketing of Sculptra with the new owners, but little else will change.  So far, we haven't heard about any pricing changes, either.

Sanofi, apparently decided to divest its dermatology business with the intention to further concentrate on its core products.

Get more out of Sculptra...

Here's a neat little trick, courtesy of Dr. Laurie Casas, which was presented at the "hot topics" part of the ASPS meeting in Toronto: Sculptra users can get a better result if they combine the injectable treatment with the use of Retin-A cream.

Dr. Casas explained that, since both products work by stimulating collagen, it made sense to try them together to see if a synergistic (additive) effect would happen. Her study found that the combination worked especially well for patients younger than age 55, and particularly well for those patients getting Sculptra in the cheeks and mid-facial areas.

Often the patients found that they required less Sculptra product to achieve the desired result, when they used the Retin-A cream. Another money saving tip for you from PSB- the Plastic Surgery Blog!

Sculptra receives its cosmetic indication from the FDA

Sculptra, the injectible PLA filler, received official FDA approval today for cosmetic use. It had initially approved several years ago for the treatment of lipo-atrophy, (most commonly seen in HIV patients) and was used on an "off-label" basis for cosmetic purposes. It's a very useful product.

Sculptra can be very helpful to restore volume loss in the face and other body areas with a non-surgical method. Usually several treatments are required over the course of several months, but I've been very pleased with the results of these treatments. It also represents a nice alternative to fat grafting techniques, avoiding donor site issues.

One key with the use of Sculptra is to use it in a highly diluted form; this helps to avoid the formation of small lumps, known as granulomas. I also do not recommend it for use in the lips.