Elevess: Competition for Restylane and Juvederm

The dermal fillers market just got more crowded:  Elevess has arrived!

Like Restylane and Juvederm, Elevess is a hyaluronic acid-based injectable product which can be used to fill facial wrinkles and folds....

• Nasolabial Folds - "Parentheses lines" that separate the cheeks from the nose and upper lip.
• Lips and Smoker's Lines - Fine lines around the lips. Fillers can also accentuate the "pouts" and "pillows" of the lips.
• Corners of the Mouth / Marionette Lines - Grooves from the corners of the mouth down towards the jaw line, similar to the mouth joints of wooden puppets.
• Chin - Creases around the chin that develop with age, especially between the chin and lower lip.
• Other Areas:
  • Deep wrinkles that are not eradicated by surgery or Botox
  • Cheeks hollowed by age, malnutrition, disease, or chemotherapy
  • "Tear troughs" separating the lower eyelids from the cheeks

Although Elevess was approved in July 2007 by the Food and Drug Administration for sale in the United States, it has since remained relatively unknown compared to popular competing hyaluronic acid filler brands such as Restylane and Juvederm.

But now, Elevess is poised to gain more popularity with the help of Artes Medical, which has just announced a deal with the makers of Elevess (Anika Therapeutics) to mass market the filler to American plastic surgery consumers.

(By the way, Artes Medical is the maker of Artefill, a permanent wrinkle/fold filler.)

What is exciting about Elevess is that it includes a local anesthetic (specifically, lidocaine).  Even with numbing creams and dental-type anesthetic shots, injecting certain areas of the face can be uncomfortable.  Hopefully, the addition of lidocaine will minimize pain, itching, and tenderness at the point of injection.  The prospect of less pain and discomfort should prove to be an attractive benefit to needle-averse patients.

While the filler-anesthetic mixture seems to be a novel idea, Elevess is not actually the only hyaluronic acid filler to incorporate an anesthetic in its formula.  Earlier this year, the Mentor Corporation (most famous for manufacturing breast implants) launched Prevelle Silk, which also mixes hyaluronic acid with lidocaine.

Prevelle Silk has not, however, attracted a wide following because of limited longevity.  Prevelle lasts just 3-6 months.  On the other hand, Restylane appears to last 6-9 months, and Juvederm may last even longer--6-12 months.

It is unclear how long Elevess will last.  Initial experience seems to support a 6-12 month length of efficacy.

Given Elevess's potentially long efficacy, and given the added anesthetic, Elevess may give Restylane and Juvederm some real competition.  More on Elevess as experience grows....