Key takeaways:
- Some botulinum toxin kind A injection formulations have a sooner onset, whereas others had been proven to last more.
- The info could assist information individualized affected person choice.
Sure botulinum toxin kind A formulations could provide a sooner onset of efficacy, whereas others keep outcomes for an extended interval, in line with a examine.
Botulinum toxin kind A (BoNT/A) injection is the most typical aesthetic intervention within the U.S., with a 73% enhance in injections amounting to greater than 8.7 million procedures happening in 2022, in line with a examine printed in JAMA Dermatology.

In 2024, FDA accepted a fifth formulation of BoNT/A, signaling a necessity for clinicians to know the efficacy and security information that differentiate these numerous formulations.

Ivona Percec
“Now we have extra fillers, extra toxins, extra all the things, and this isn’t going to cease,” Ivona Percec, MD, PhD, affiliate professor of surgical procedure and director of the beauty surgical procedure program on the College of Pennsylvania, instructed Healio. “We have to perceive how they carry out as a result of, whereas they’re all efficient, they aren’t precisely interchangeable.”
In a single-center, double-blind medical trial, Percec and colleagues randomly assigned 143 ladies aged 30 to 65 years into 4 arms to obtain completely different BoNT/A formulations within the glabellar area. The included formulations had been one dose of 20 models of onabotulinum toxin A (Botox, Allergan Prescribed drugs), one dose of 60 models of abobotulinum toxin A (Dysport, Ispen), one dose of 20 models of prabotulinum toxin A (Jeuveau, Evolus), and one dose of 20 models of incobotulinum toxin A (Xeomin, Merz Prescribed drugs).
Injections had been administered on day 0 and evaluated at days 3, 30, 90 and 180 with dynamic three-dimensional photogrammetry. The imaging system captured two photographs — one with individuals making a impartial facial features and one with individuals furrowing their forehead.
Outcomes confirmed that abobotulinum toxin A and prabotulinum toxin A had the quickest onset by day 3, with photogrammetry exhibiting a 67.4% and 61.7% discount in pressure ranges in contrast with day 0. In distinction, onabotulinum toxin A and incobotulinum toxin A brought about reductions starting from roughly 40% to 48%.
The examine additionally discovered that prabotulinum toxin A and incobotulinum toxin had been efficient for the longest interval, outlined as as much as day 180. In line with Percec, these findings could information clinicians towards the fitting formulation to offer to their sufferers.
“If someone is available in and says, ‘I’ve an occasion’ or ‘I actually would really like my neurotoxin to take impact extra rapidly,’ then I’d advocate choosing Dysport and Jeuveau,” Percec stated. “If someone is available in and says, ‘I would really like one thing that lasts a little bit longer,’ then I would choose Jeuveau, as a result of that, in line with the examine, actually is the best one on the identical dosage.”
Affected person-reported outcomes within the examine, as measured with the FACE-Q evaluation survey, confirmed that sufferers expertise peak satisfaction as much as 90 days, which is the interval when the neurotoxin is best.
“This reveals a superb correlation with affected person satisfaction and the efficacy of the therapy,” Percec stated. “This could guarantee sufferers that the efficacy we’re telling them is there may be precisely what they’re seeing on their finish.”
For extra info:
Ivona Percec, MD, PhD, might be reached at dermatology@healio.com.