Unlock Editorial Digest for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Baby boomers and diet pill users suffering from “facial sagging” are flocking to injectable cosmetic treatments and boosting sales, according to dermatology group Galderma.
The Swiss company, which was spun off from Nestlé in 2019 and went public last year, has seen its shares soar as products aimed at smoothing wrinkles and improving facial features gain popularity.
“I think the face of older people has changed dramatically,” chief executive Fleming Ernskov told the Financial Times in an interview, acknowledging that more and more people are living longer and healthier lives.
The company has seen a “significant increase” in consumers over the age of 60 opting for beauty treatments. “People have 10 to 15 more years to live and they want to see how they feel, not what their body will look like if they don’t take care of themselves,” Ørnskov added.
Galderma is the world’s second-largest player in the $9 billion market for neuromodulator injections and fillers, behind U.S. company AbbVie. The former is a toxin that relaxes facial muscles to reduce wrinkles, and the latter is a gel-like injection used to make skin look plumper.
Ørnskov said weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are also a big driver of sales, with many dermatologists reporting that patients are seeking so-called “Ozempic facial” treatments in areas with higher penetration of drugs using GLP-1, such as the Middle East. and North America.
“If they lose 8 to 10 kilograms or more, they start to experience facial sagging,” Ørnskov said. “That’s where people need to use filler.”
He added that Galderma’s most popular filler among weight-loss drug users is a product called Sculptra, which was originally developed for HIV patients experiencing rapid weight loss.
In its initial public offering last March, Galderma raised about 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 Swiss francs per share.
Galderma’s net sales rose 9.2% to $3.2 billion in the nine months ended September 2024, driven by its two largest segments: Dermatology Skin Care, which includes everyday skin care brands like Cetaphil ) and cosmetic injectables. Its third prescription treatments unit lagged behind, with sales growing 2.9% during the same period.
Due to sluggish market consumer demand, sales in the United States, which accounted for 40% of the group’s total sales, increased by 2.5% in the first three quarters, while sales in other regions of the world increased by 14.5%.
The company hopes to boost U.S. sales with the launch of Nemluvio, a new product for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, which recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company says about 7% of Americans suffer from eczema.
Despite a slowdown in the U.S. economy, Galderma said it is starting to close the gap on injectables category chief rival AbbVie, which invented the famous Botox brand and holds a leading position in the category. market position.
AbbVie’s Botox and Galderma’s Dysport are the leading neuromodulators, with 80% of U.S. doctors using Dysport in their clinics, compared with 20% for Botox, Jefferies analysts said.
Galderma said Sculptra is currently the second-largest filler brand in the United States. The company has just launched a new filler designed for people who want to appear to have better bone structure, such as men who want a stronger jaw.
The Swiss group was founded in 2019 when Nestlé sold its skin health unit to a consortium of investors led by private equity firm EQT for $10 billion after the food giant deemed the unit unsuitable for its nutrition-focused business. Focused investment portfolio.
Nestlé previously ran the skin care unit in a joint venture with L’Oréal, but in 2014 it paid 2.6 billion euros for full control of the French cosmetics group.
In August, L’Oréal reacquired a 10% stake in the company. Analysts said the move showed renewed interest in the cosmetic injectables category, which has far outperformed other consumer categories.
