Allergan Korea said it led the domestic medical aesthetic market with double-digit growth last year, noting the company’s earnings report that beat the Wall Street’s estimates.

“The driving force behind Allergan’s double-digit growth comes mainly from the successful increase in product awareness through launching new products and employing customer-centered communication,” said Angie Kim, head of Allergan’s Asia Sub Region, at the company’s media event Wednesday.

The company reported a global net income of $3.05 billion and revenue of $4.33 billion last year. According to CNBC, the revenue surpassed the previous estimate of $4.28 billion and represented a 12 percent increase from 2016. Its Korean branch also recorded revenues of 80.2 billion won ($73.7 million) last year.

The handsome earnings are thanks mainly to meeting increased demand for Botox, the company said. Botox sales around the world reached $864.3 million, marking a notable 17 percent increase from the previous year.

A significant share of sales also resulted from successfully meeting the domestic demand for Juvederm, the company’s premium facial aesthetic filler that contains hyaluronic acid, and Natrelle, its silicone-filled implants, company officials said.

“Allergan Korea aims to hit 100 billion won in sales this year,” Angie said.

The company also expressed high hopes for its newly developed non-invasive under-the-chin fat reducing treatment Belkyra and non-surgical fat-freezing procedure CoolSculpting. Both products are non-invasive and FDA-approved, giving them an upper leg in competing in the domestic market, another company official said.

■ Related : Allergan Korea gains marketing approval for double chin treatment

“About 56 percent of Korean consumers want a noninvasive fat reduction but cannot do it for safety or efficacy concerns,” said Benoit Chardon, head of Allergan’s body contouring international strategic marketing. “For these consumers, CoolSculpting is ideal because we are the only brand with proved safety, and so faces less competition in the domestic market.”

Chardon noted that CoolSculpting, which Allergan gained through acquiring Zeltiq Aesthetics for $2.5 billion last February, has a significant potential to be a revenue driver.

“We believe that Allergan will become the leader in Asia’s medical aesthetic market with the continuous launch of superior products in 2018,” Angie added.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>