While other medical device sectors, such as orthopedics and invasive plastic surgery, experienced a downturn in elective procedures in 2009, cosmetic dermatology procedures--including Botox and facial filler injections--continue on their upward trend. This fact was emphasized by the record attendance at the American Academy of Dermatology summer meeting held in Chicago in August 2010.

A marketing battle with an unusual twist is brewing between Allergan's popular anti-wrinkle agent Botox and new-to-the-block Dysport, from Ipsen-Medicis. Both sides are citing their REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) as a key competitive advantage.

In the pharmaceutical industry, dermatology is the new ophthalmology. Like ophtho, dermatology has long been viewed as a pharmaceutical backwater dogged by a diverse set of problems, including a fragmented market, drug delivery challenges, and less than effective therapies. Today's market forces, however, are driving Big Pharma into a more specialized direction, and in the past three years, many - if not all - Big Pharmas have reoriented their pipelines, refocusing on areas of high unmet medical need in the hopes of identifying novel drugs that have a greater chance of passing muster with regulators and succeeding in the marketplace. Freed from the need to pursue blockbuster products, dermatology assets are suddenly more attractive.