'Ozempic face' could create a huge market for fillers. One newly-public company wants to cash in.

Geoff Weiss,Julia Pugachevsky
·2 min read
'Ozempic face' could create a huge market for fillers. One newly-public company wants to cash in.

  • Swiss pharma giant Galderma sees opportunity in the "Ozempic face" phenomenon.

  • Its CEO told Bloomberg that weight-loss drugs could boost its fillers business.

  • Ozempic face is a result of aging and rapid weight loss, one cosmetic dermatologist said.

The CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Galderma thinks the popularity of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic could boost its facial fillers business.

That's because Ozempic can result in a sunken-in look in some patients' faces, Galderma CEO Flemming Ornskov told Bloomberg — an effect he said fillers can help counteract.

"I think that will be another growth wave in that space," Flemming told the outlet of the fillers market, "which I will make sure to capture."

Galderma — which creates skin care treatments — has products like Sculptra that "should be able to restore" the gaunt look that's become popularly known online as Ozempic face, Ornskov told Bloomberg.

"We do see the increasing penetration of GLP-1 treatments as an opportunity for Injectable Aesthetics," a Galderma spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider — adding the company had started a study to evaluate the effects of Sculptra and two types of Restylane "for cheek augmentation and contour deficiencies in GLP-1 patients."

"Enrollment is ongoing and we might be in the position to share results as early as end of this year," the spokesperson added.

One dermatologist told Business Insider that Ozempic face has become everpresent in his practice.

"I am seeing patients with this complaint almost on a daily basis at this point," said Dr. Joshua Zeichner, "now that use of these medications is so widespread."

Cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, who said he coined the term Ozempic face, said the effect is a result of aging and rapid weight loss.

Galderma, which also owns the ubiquitous drug store brand Cetaphil, went public last month on the SIX Swiss Exchange, and shares surged, Reuters reported at the time. On Wednesday, the company reported sales of $1 billion in the first quarter — a 12.4% increase year-over-year.

Read the original article on Business Insider