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The demand for esthetic non-surgical treatments has considerably increased during the past decade all over the world. One of the driving forces behind this increase is the ability to carry out safe, effective and natural esthetic treatment with the least possible discomfort. Q-Med’s injectable esthetic products are called dermal fillers. Of the non-surgical treatments, these dermal fillers are today the third most common form of treatment in the Western world. Acceptance for esthetic treatments is increasing and new target groups are discovering the products. The trend within esthetic treatments is moving towards a holistic view, where different products are combined. The focus is shifting from treating individual wrinkles and folds towards carrying out treatments comprising the whole face with relatively simple, non-invasive methods.
Sales and income for the year
Sales within the Esthetics product area amounted to 1,152 (1,037) MSEK during 2009. Operating income was 252 (172) MSEK and the operating margin was 22 (17) percent. Sales in Europe increased by 8 percent during the period January to December. Sales of Restylane® products with lidocaine developed very well and the products were well received. Sales to Medicis, Q-Med’s partner in North America, increased by 5 percent compared with the previous year. Sales to Latin America were unchanged compared with the previous year. Sales increased in Asia by 24 percent. The launch of Restylane in China and the opening of a new training center in Hong Kong are some of the activities in Asia.
Several markets in Asia continued to develop well even though the financial crisis curbed the development of sales. Sales to other parts of the world increased by 9 percent for the period January to December 2009 compared with the same period the previous year. Australia and New Zealand are examples of markets in the rest of the world where the development of sales was positive.
Non-surgical treatments growing the most
Esthetic treatments can be divided into surgical and non-surgical procedures. The three most common non-surgical beauty procedures according to ASAPS (The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) are: treatment with botulinum toxin, which blocks impulses from nerves to, for example, facial muscles, the filling out of wrinkles and lips with hyaluronic acid based products (for example Restylane), and hair removal using laser. The three most common surgical treatments are, according to the same source, liposuction, breast augmentation and eyelid operations.
During the past decade the interest in non-surgical treatments has grown significantly. Between the years 1997 and 2008, the number of surgical procedures in the USA increased by 81 percent, while the number of non-surgical procedures increased by 654 percent, according to ASAPS. During 2008 over 10 million cosmetic treatments were carried out in the USA and of these 83 percent were non-surgical treatments.
Market and development of the market
The number of competing products has increased in recent years and today there are almost 100 different dermal fillers on the market. Around half of them are based on hyaluronic acid. Global sales of dermal fillers amounted to approximately 759 million USD during 2009, according to Medical Insight Inc. The market is consolidating and is probably developing towards a few major players who can offer a broad product portfolio. During the year a number of competitors withdrew their products from the market. Collagen as a base for dermal fillers, for example, seems to be on its way out of the market. The NASHA™ technology, Q-Med’s patented method for stabilized non-animal hyaluronic acid, is still unsurpassed with regard to product properties and clinical studies. It can be mentioned by way of example that Restylane is used as gold standard in FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) studies which serve as a basis for product registration. Q-Med’s market share in Europe is estimated to amount to between 40 and 60 percent, depending on the country. In the North America, where marketing and sales are done via Q-Med’s partner Medicis, market observers estimate that the market share is approximately 40 percent. In Asia Q-Med’s market share is assessed to be approximately 50 percent.
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