The aesthetics unit of AbbVie, the last remaining local division of Allergan following several sales and corporate restructurings over the past six years, in May announced an acquisition of its own, buying acoustic wave device maker Soliton Inc. for $550 million.
The Houston-based maker of a cellulite and tattoo removal device is being acquired for $22.60 per share.
That’s a 25% premium over Soliton’s closing price on its last full day of trading prior to the announcement.
Soliton’s device is expected to be an important contributor to Allergan Aesthetics’ collection of fat-freezing and muscle-strengthening products, according to Carrie Strom, president of Allergan Aesthetics and senior vice president of AbbVie.
“There is a huge unmet need to address cellulite and effective treatments have been elusive and frustrating for consumers,” Strom said at the time of the announcement.
“Soliton’s technology offers a new, completely noninvasive approach with clinically-proven results to reduce the appearance of cellulite with no patient downtime.”
The local aesthetic unit’s main product is wrinkle-treating drug Botox; global Botox cosmetic revenue was $477 million in the first quarter of 2021, up 45% versus year-ago levels, according to AbbVie.
Flurry of Investments
The company’s buyout of Soliton comes just a few weeks after the Houston company received FDA clearance to treat cellulite with its Resonic system, which uses rapid acoustic pulse technology to reduce the appearance of cellulite and tattoos. The system has also shown results for fibrotic scars in clinical trials.
It’s the second acquisition for the Allergan Aesthetics division since its parent company’s own $63 billion sale to AbbVie that closed last May—and an example of continued efforts to address unmet needs in aesthetics.
In October, the company acquired Israel-based Luminera Pharma, maker of a dermal filler with hyaluronic acid and calcium hydroxyapatite intended for facial soft tissue augmentation, called HArmonyCa. That product, previously available in just Israel and Brazil, was folded into the company’s dermal filler portfolio and is expected to be rolled out globally.
In addition, the company in January entered an option to acquire Chicago-based Cypris Medical, a device maker for treating midface descent and neck lifts; and in September led a $7.5 million seed round of financing for hair rejuvenation firm Stemson Therapeutics of San Diego.
Brand Makeover
Allergan, which long served as Orange County’s largest healthcare company and OC’s most valuable public company, in 2015 was sold for $70.5 billion to Parsippany, N.J.-based Actavis PLC, a deal that resulted in sharp cuts to the company’s Irvine overall base of employees as well as its local executive ranks.
AbbVie announced a new vision for its global aesthetics brand last October.
It aims to “honor its heritage and history while looking ahead as an AbbVie company” that is “100% dedicated to aesthetics,” Strom told the Business Journal.
On the consumer front, “we wanted a visual identity that is bold and beautiful, diverse and inclusive, that includes real people and feels accessible to everyone,” Strom said.
That strategy is evidenced in the company’s more recent advertisements and social media channels, which have been taken over with new images and messages that demonstrate an increasingly diverse customer base—in size, shape, skin tone, age and more.
Golden Age
Strom spent more than a decade in marketing roles, working up to senior VP of medical aesthetics at Allergan, before she was tapped to lead the global aesthetics unit of AbbVie.
“We’re in the golden age of aesthetics,” she said.
“Aesthetics has become mainstream. It’s no longer taboo or stigmatized. It’s part of everyday beauty regimes, and there are more options and categories that address needs than ever before.”
The global medical aesthetics market is expected to expand at an annual rate of 10% to $125 billion by 2028, according to Grandview Research.
In the first quarter of 2021, Allergan Aesthetics grew 35% globally to $1.1 billion, led by a rebound of interest and treatments as the world begins to emerge from COVID-19 and in-person activities begin to resume.
The millennial generation, in combination with more frequent use of social media, have been major growth drivers for the industry, added Strom.
To capitalize, the company has been growing a new team—called Allergan Data Labs—made up of digital marketers, consumer aesthetics marketers, data scientists and engineers “with the mandate to drive penetration in a vastly under-penetrated market and inspire consumers to try our products,” Strom said.
Reflecting Forward
There’s still room for improvement in the burgeoning industry, according to Strom.
Allergan Aesthetics announced a partnership with Skin Better Science called DREAM—Driving Racial Equity in Aesthetic Medicine—last year to advance diversity and inclusion in the field. It entails three major initiatives “for social change in aesthetics,” said Strom.
The companies are working together to develop a training program and curriculum for residents in plastic surgery and dermatology on implicit bias.
Secondly, it’s creating one of the first academic photo atlas that references an assortment of skin conditions across different skin tones.
In addition, its “Forces of Beauty” initiative aims to work with media and providers “to better understand different perceptions of beauty and meet the needs of all patients,” Strom said.
