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Baby boomers and users of weight-loss drugs suffering from “facial sagging” are flocking to injectable cosmetic treatments and increasing their sales, according to dermatology group Galderma.
The Swiss company, from Nestlé in 2019 and became public last yearhas seen its share price soar as the popularity of products designed to smooth wrinkles and improve facial features accelerates.
“I think there has been a radical change in the way older people look,” said chief executive Flemming Ørnskov in an interview with the Financial Times, pointing to the fact that more and more people are living longer and in good health.
The company has seen a “significant increase” in the number of consumers aged over 60 opting for aesthetic treatments. “People live another 10 to 15 years and they want to look like how they feel, not what they might look like physically if they hadn’t taken care of themselves,” Ørnskov added.
Galderma is the second-largest global player in the $9 billion neuromodulator injections and fillers market after US-based AbbVie. The former are toxins that relax facial muscles to reduce wrinkles, and the latter are gel-like injections used to make skin plumper.
Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic are also a big driver of sales, Ørnskov said, with many dermatologists reporting that patients are seeking treatment for the so-called “Ozempic face” in areas where there is a higher penetration of drugs using GLP-1 such as the Middle East and North America.
“If they lose eight to ten kilos or more, they start to show facial sagging,” Ørnskov said. “There, people will have to use filler.”
Galderma’s most popular filler among users of weight-loss drugs is a product called Sculptra, which was initially developed for HIV patients who experienced rapid weight loss, he added.
In its IPO in March last year, Galderma raised around 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.7 billion) at a price of 53 Swiss francs per share. The company’s shares more than doubled to 108.50 francs per share.
Galderma’s net sales rose 9.2% to $3.2 billion in the nine months to September 2024, driven by its two largest divisions, dermatology care – which includes skincare brands everyday products like Cetaphil – and aesthetic injectables. Its third prescription treatment division is lagging, with sales growing 2.9 percent in the period.
Sales in the United States, which account for 40 percent of the group’s total, rose 2.5 percent in the first three quarters, compared with 14.5 percent in the rest of the world, driven by demand moderate consumer demand in the market.
The company hopes to increase sales in the United States with the launch of its new product, Nemluvio, which treats atopic dermatitis, and which recently received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration. In the United States, about 7 percent of the population suffers from eczema, the company said.
Despite the slowdown in the United States, Galderma said it is starting to close the gap with its main competitor in the injectable category, AbbVie, which invented the famous Botox brand and holds the leading position in the market in this category.
According to Jefferies analysts, AbbVie’s Botox and Galderma’s Dysport are the leading neuromodulators, with Dysport used in 80 percent of U.S. doctor’s offices, compared to 20 percent for Botox.
Galderma says Sculptra is now the second largest filler brand in the United States. It has just launched a new filler product specifically designed for people who want to have better bone structure, for example men who want the appearance of a stronger jawline.
The Swiss group was created in 2019 when Nestlé sold its skin health division to a consortium of investors led by private equity firm EQT for $10 billion, after the food giant concluded it did not fit with its primarily nutrition-focused portfolio.
Nestlé previously ran the skincare unit in a joint venture with L’Oréal, but took full control in 2014, in exchange for 2.6 billion euros of its shares in the French cosmetics group.
In August L’Oréal bought back a 10 percent stake in the company. Analysts said the move indicated renewed interest in the injectable aesthetic category, which has far outperformed other consumer categories.
