More fat profits? The makers of Botox say they have a cure for your double chin

Stand down flaccid penis, the next fat profit centre in the pharmaceutical industry may be the double chin.

Allergan Plc is beginning an aggressive sales blitz for Kybella, the first injectable treatment for what the medical industry terms “submental fat” . “It’s a disruptive technology,” said Philippe Schaison, president of Allergan’s US medical business. “It’s working great, and there’s nothing like it.”

Scientists at Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. worked on Kybella for roughly a decade. Soon after the Food and Drug Administration approved the chin treatment, in April 2015, Allergan moved to buy Kythera for US$2.1 billion in cash. The giant drug maker has trained roughly 1,600 doctors in the U.S. and Canada to administer Kybella, an effort that will expand if European Union regulators approve the drug, as the company expects, some time this year. Allergan is putting together an advertising blitz, including a number of television commercials, that will flood televisions in September.

The active ingredient in Kybella, deoxycholic acid, is a form of bile that destroys fat cells in the digestive tract. It turns out that the stuff does the same in the chin. The treatment involves 20 to 30 tiny injections by a doctor, with care to avoid the nerves and major blood vessels running under the jawline.

Each session costs about US$1,500, and most patients require two to four, according to Dr Anne Chapas, a dermatologist in Manhattan. Her practice, Union Square Laser Dermatology, now performs a few Kybella treatments a week. “We’ve been hearing about this for over 10 years, so we were absolutely excited about it,” Dr Chapas said. “We know there’s huge potential.”

“We own the face,” said Allergan’s Philippe Schaison