Medicis, Allergan fight for wrinkle-fighting consumers

Cosmetic drugs are hot and happening even as the economy limps along--just take a gander at cosmeceuticals specialist Medici's latest numbers as proof. But not all beautifying treatments are created equal. Nor do they all work equally well. Just ask Johnson & Johnson, which has stopped marketing its wrinkle-filling drug Evolence, BNet Pharma reports.

J&J got ahold of Evolence in 2008, via a $1 billion buyout of Mentor Corp. The drug obviously didn't perform financially. Nor did it perform cosmetically very well, at least according to reviews from some consumers and dermatologists, according to BNet. And now, it's gone.

That leaves the field wide open from the two remaining wrinkle-fillers: Juvederm, from Botox-maker Allergan; and Restylane, from Medicis. That makes it a head-to-head competition between those two companies in two cosmetics categories. That's because Medicis recently won approval for a Botox competitor, Dysport. So let the battles begin.

- see the story from BNet
- get more from the Wall Street Journal

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