AbbVie Korea is strengthening its position in the local botulinum toxin (BTX) market with Botox armed with long-term safety and clinical data.

AbbVie Korea held a press conference at the Plaza Hotel on Wednesday in Seoul to celebrate the launch of Botox under AbbVie after the company completed the merger between the two Korean offshoots in May.

"Based on clinical data accumulated through multiple clinical trials over 30 years, Botox has proved its efficacy and safety compared to other BTXs," said Professor Park Eun-soo of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital. "Although administering BTX is a relatively safe and simple medical aesthetic procedure, it is important to use products that have been tested in multiple clinical trials for effectiveness, safety, and satisfaction."

Park stressed that BTX type A is not interchangeable, and this means that all BTX type A products are different.

"As BTX is a biologic, it is important to have a consistent quality product, and AbbVie's Botox is consistently produced with a uniform molecular weight of 900 kDa through rigorous quality testing and has a large number of effective toxins," Park said.

Park also highlighted that Botox had been used in clinical practice for many years and has consistently shown high patient and medical staff satisfaction based on its effectiveness and safety.

"According to AbbVie, a 2009 meta-analysis study of 1,678 patients who received Botox confirmed its tolerability and safety," he said. "The study found no significant difference in adverse events such as eyelid numbness, ptosis, and muscle weakness compared to placebo."

In terms of long-lasting effects, Botox lasted approximately four months per treatment for frown lines and up to five months for crow's feet, he added.

Following Professor Park, Dr. An Hi-tae, head of Yemiwon Aesthetic Clinic, discussed the safety of long-term use of BTX.

"Based on the main findings of Botox, patients who regularly received Botox for a long period of time reported a more youthful appearance," An said. "The incidence of tolerance was reported to be between 0 and 0.3 percent in the treatment of glabellar lines, and diminished effectiveness due to tolerance was rare."

Notably, of the 110 patients who switched to another BTX A formulation, 92 of them were not satisfied with the results and switched back to Botox, he added.

In addition, An said BTX must be injected at the correct dose and in the correct area, which makes the spread of the toxin also important.

"Botox has shown in clinical studies to have a smaller spread than other BTXs," he said.

Meanwhile, this year marked the 10th anniversary of AbbVie's founding through a corporate spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, and the company plans to take a new step forward as "One AbbVie" by integrating all aspects of business management, including business operations systems and corporate culture, with Allergan, which it acquired in 2019.

Allergan Aesthetics aims to provide new growth opportunities in the medical aesthetics business by offering differentiated branded programs and educational opportunities.

Botox was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1989 to treat two eye-muscle disorders, blepharospasm (uncontrollable blinking) and strabismus (crossed eyes). It was subsequently approved by the FDA in 2002 for the treatment of forehead wrinkles and in Korea in 2008 for the same purpose.