David Pyott, the youthful-looking chief executive of Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc., has a secret that’s out of the bag.
Pyott said in an interview with the Financial Times he’s used Allergan’s wrinkle-reducer Botox.
“David Pyott’s brow is serenely untroubled for someone running a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company,” the Financial Times story said. “One might even say suspiciously untroubled, given that he is chairman and chief executive of Allergan, the company behind Botox, one of the biggest innovations in cosmetic treatments since silicone. When challenged on this, the 52-year-old Scot laughs and gives a refreshingly honest response: ‘Yes, I have used Botox,you’ve always got to try your own product.'”
The Financial Times story talked about “the virtues” of Allergan’s $3.2 billion buy of Santa Barbara’s Inamed Corp. earlier this year.
Pyott told the newspaper it was a natural step to add Inamed’s collagen and other dermal fillers, which are used to fill deep facial lines and plump up lips.
“We were looking below the eyes and we knew for a long time we needed a dermal filler,” Pyott said.
The story also touches on Pyott’s early hesitance about getting Inamed’s breast implant line as part of the acquisition.
“Selling breast implants is not something I planned to do with my life,” he said.
The appeal, according to Pyott: cross-selling.
Most women who get breast implants are in their late 30s and 40s and often seek other ways to regain youthful looks.
Pyott also elaborated on Allergan’s win in a bidding war for Inamed with Scottsdale-based Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.
“I’m a great lover of military strategy and getting prepared, and we had been working on that deal for seven months before we went public and were completely ready,” Pyott said.
Medicis was devastated by the outcome, according to Pyott.
“Life is terribly unfair,” he said. “Normally, we are the little person, but Medicis was the little person compared to us and so we did a financial calculation that made good sense for us, but was a bridge too far from them.”
Pyott said he spends a lot of time on the road as he keeps in touch with Allergan’s customers.
“I use a machine gun on anyone who tries to tie me down, or bottle me up in meetings all the time,” Pyott said.
Skin Bleach Could Go Rx
Some skin bleaching creams made by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa and other companies may disappear from the over-the-counter market soon.
Valeant, which last week said the Securities and Exchange Commission is taking an informal look at its stock trades and the release of trial data for hepatitis C treatment Viramidine, has several skin-bleaching creams.
They include Solaquin 2%, its over-the-counter product, and Glyquin, available by prescription.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule that potentially would end over-the-counter sales of skin bleaches marketed by some 65 companies.
Skin bleaches that contain hydroquinone would be classified as new drugs and subject to the FDA’s new drug approval process under the rule.
Consumers of various races and skin tones generally use such creams to self-treat freckles, liver spots, melasma, discolorations from pregnancy and dark marks that come about from acne or burns. Hydroquinone also is used to treat vitiligo, a pigmentation disorder that leaves white patches.
The agency said it was proposing the rule because of safety data linking hydroquinone to disfigurement in humans and cancer in laboratory rats.
The FDA said that a large body of research has been published on hydroquinone since it was first cleared for over-the-counter use in 1982.
Valeant said it’s aware of the FDA’s proposal and plans to follow the agency’s recommendation, spokeswoman Angie McCabe said.
The company is considering discontinuing Solaquin because of a lack of demand, she said. Bleaching creams make up a small part of the drug maker’s sales.
Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., an Israeli company that makes Lustra cream, is among the publicly traded drug companies that sell a skin-bleaching drug.
Cosmetics companies also make bleaching creams under the brands Porcelana, Esoterica, Black Opal Fade Gel and Palmer’s Skin Success.
Regulators are taking public comments on the proposed rule through Dec. 26. It’s unclear when it would become permanent.
The American Academy of Dermatology plans to protest the proposed rule during the public comment period. Dr. Susan Taylor, a dermatology professor at Columbia University, called hydroquinone “the gold standard” for treating skin pigmentation disorders, in published reports.
If companies were required to obtain FDA approval, they would pull out of the market rather than go through the longer, costlier drug approval process, Taylor said.
Bits and Pieces:
US Bancorp Piper Jaffray started coverage of Alliance Imaging Inc. of Anaheim with an “outperform” rating John Calfee, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses “The Emerging Market Dynamics of Targeted Therapeutics” Oct. 17 at the University Club on the University of California, Irvine, campus. Calfee’s talk is sponsored by the Center for Health Care Management and Policy at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business The Center for Optimal Health, Irvine, presents “Seeking Mind-Body Balance: Essence of Integrative Health” Saturday at Orange Coast College. Information and registration: (949) 872-2850.
