Growth prospects to drive medical beauty M&A: IMCAS
Mergers and acquisitions in the medical beauty sector will pick up as more people, mainly women, aspire to keep youthful looks, said the scientific director of IMCAS, a group of plastic surgeons and dermatologists.
January 07, 2011 / 18:38 IST
Mergers and acquisitions in the medical beauty sector will pick up as more people, mainly women, aspire to keep youthful looks, said the scientific director of IMCAS, a group of plastic surgeons and dermatologists.
IMCAS, the annual International Master Course on Ageing Skin congress, expects last year's 3.5 bn euro (USD 4.61 bn) medical beauty market to grow at an annual rate of 11% until 2014 to 5.3 bn euros, and to return to 2008 record levels of 3.8 bn euros this year.Growth in Europe should outpace that of the United States -- 11% compared with 9%-- mainly due to a catch-up in botulinum toxin shots and the availability of more products that temporarily remove facial lines by paralysing muscles.Those prospects, supported by a growing acceptance to straighten out wrinkles and folds through injecting gels or chemical peelings and laser treatments instead of slapping on the usual creams, have caught the attention of pharmaceutical groups."The consolidation in the worldwide medical aesthetical sector should continue and become stronger in 2011," Benjamin Ascher, plastic surgeon and scientific director of IMCAS told Reuters in a telephone interview.A number of deals have taken place over the past years, including Johnson & Johnson's takeover of body sculpting company Mentor while Bayer recently moved into aesthetic medicine, developing a product that reduces small fat volumes in the face.Dermatology company Galderma plans to buy Q-Med and Botox maker Allergan has emerged as a target for Pfizer or Sanofi-Aventis, which sells a wrinkle filler but is also trying to buy US biotech Genzyme."This is one of the rare medical markets with double-digit growth, and so it increasingly interests big pharma, which are looking to diversify," business development manager at Symatase BioMaterials Laurent Brones told Reuters over the phone."Growth is linked to the fact that people increasingly take care of their wellbeing, and that nowadays these treatments are largely no longer seen as a luxury but as a necessity," Brones said.In addition to the increasing share of middle-aged people in society who get medical beauty treatments, more and more 20 to 30 year-olds, anticipating the effects of ageing, are also getting them.The botolinum toxin market, no longer owned by Allergan's Botox brand alone, is seen growing 16% a year until 2014 from 570 million euros in 2010, while fillers based on collagen to even out folds around the mouth, are seen up 9%.Botulinum toxin shots in Europe should grow 25% a year and catch up with the United States, thanks to new products including Ipsen's Azzalure and Xeomin, made by Merz Pharmaceuticals, which last year bought filler maker BioForm.Energy-based treatments, like ultrasounds and lasers, are the biggest segment in medical beauty and are also expected to grow. Sales rose to about 790 mn euros last year but were hit hard during the credit crisis when women chose cheaper ways to try and maintain youthful looks.The most popular type of plastic surgery remains breast implants, IMCAS said. That market represented 580 million euros last year and should grow 7% a year until 2014.The IMCAS conference, which is held every year in Paris, starts Friday. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
