In this interview, we caught up with Gerry Muhle, Head of Global Product Strategy at Galderma, and discussed current and future aesthetics trends, as well as some of the company’s latest and upcoming product innovations.
ANTI-AGE Magazine: Current trends show growing interest among millennials in injectables. Is this a major target for Galderma?
Gerry muhle: Aesthetics is becoming more and more part of our beauty, health and wellness routines, and that is especially true for younger generations – those under 40, including millennials and Gen Z. Social media influence, new aesthetic technologies, expertise and accessibility are all factors that intersect, and create new possibilities and demands from consumers, including millennials. As a result, we see the world of aesthetic increasingly colliding with mainstream beauty and fashion, and we need to adapt and find new ways to answer the specific needs of these generations.
AAM: The aesthetic trends that you identified in your NEXT by Galderma report show that patients’ motivations are very diverse. How can we meet them?
G.M.: Catering to these motivations and needs requires us to first anticipate and understand them, which is exactly what we have done with NEXT by Galderma, by identifying the emerging trends and aesthetic needs of tomorrow. It also means having the right products to answer them, something that Galderma is uniquely positioned to do, with the broadest Injectable Aesthetics portfolio on the market. Like many other areas of our lives already, I expect that aesthetics will see an increasing number of new, bespoke offerings in the future, using for instance integrated product approaches from across different parts of our portfolio to allow for truly individualised results. This also requires new capabilities from healthcare professionals, something that Galderma is actively working on through its education and training platforms.
AAM: Can we reconcile a “beauty” discourse with a scientific approach?
G.M.: Undoubtedly yes. Science is a critical force for us at Galderma, that has been driving the products that we develop across therapeutic dermatology, injectable aesthetics and dermatological skincare. Every Galderma product available to patients and consumers is backed by robust science, which is why we have so many long-standing brands in our portfolio that have been serving customers for decades, along with new innovations building on the latest research and technologies.
AAM: Sculptra® is celebrating its 25th anniversary and we are seeing a boom in biostimulators. How do you explain this enthusiasm?
G.M.: More consumers are now becoming aware of the role that collagen plays in the aging process and are looking for solutions to address collagen loss. Sculptra® is a great option for these consumers, because of its unique ability to stimulate the body’s own production of collagen, therefore working “with the body” to address the root cause of skin aging, and by providing unmatched, progressive, natural-looking results that last more than 2 years. This enthusiasm for biostimulators reflects three of the trends that we have identified in NEXT by Galderma: addressing aging before it is apparent (‘Proactive Beauty’), the priority given to products with minimal environmental impact, that align with consumers’ ethical values and provide natural-looking results (‘Mindful Aesthetics’) and the desire to use aesthetics to look and feel good at any age, rather than solely seeking to reverse or eradicate signs of aging (‘Cancelling Age’).
AAM: What is the indication of the new Restylane® Shaype™ and what are its specific features?
G.M.: Restylane® SHAYPE™ is the latest addition to our Restylane portfolio, the world’s most diverse range of hyaluronic acid (HA) injectables. Powered by new NASHA HD™ technology from Galderma, Restylane SHAYPE has the highest G prime, which makes it the firmest HA gel available on the market while remaining the closest to skin’s own HA. As such, thanks to its bone mimicking effect, it allows aesthetic injectors to shape, project and elongate the chin and can be readily reversed. For decades, there has been heavy reliance on implants to create structure in the lower face. With Restylane SHAYPE patients now have a new, innovative, non-surgical option for chin remodelling.
AAM: You are working on the arrival of a new botulinum toxin in 2025. Does it have distinct characteristics from Azzalure?
G.M.: With our investigational RelabotulinumtoxinA, we are aiming to bring a truly novel and unique solution to the market, for the treatment of lateral canthal and glabellar lines. First, thanks to its proprietary, unique state-of-the-art manufacturing process, it is a highly-active and complex-free molecule which has demonstrated compelling results in our READY clinical trials, with high patient satisfaction, rapid onset of action from day 1, long duration of 6 months and natural-looking results. Second, it is designed as a liquid. This avoids the traditional requirement to reconstitute from powder, eliminating the risk of variability and errors, which is expected to improve the consistency of results for patients and increase convenience for injectors. This is truly exciting, and we are very much looking forward to this addition to our neuromodulator portfolio. l
More info on Next by Galderma: galderma.com/next-galderma
