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New York — A new botulinum toxin-based gel has the potential to help smooth crow’s feet without the need for needles, HealthDay News reports.
In part of a new phase 2 trial, 90 patients with moderate-to-severe crow’s feet were randomly assigned to be treated either with a placebo gel or the botulinum toxin gel. Almost 90 percent of the latter had a clinically meaningful reduction in wrinkles, compared with 28 percent of those receiving placebo.
In a second study involving 180 adults with crow’s feet, about 40 percent of those treated with the botulinum toxin gel responded favorably, researchers said.
The new research is encouraging because it demonstrated that the gel “noticeably softened crow’s feet,” said lead author Michael Kane, M.D., a plastic surgeon at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Dr. Kane has served as an investigator and consultant for Revance Therapeutics, Mountain View, Calif., which has been trying to develop an alternative to Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA, Allergan) for several years.
Effects of the gel last for about four months, comparable to the duration of Botox injections, investigators said.
With phase 3 studies yet to be done, still to be determined are whether the gel would work better than injected toxin, how much treatments would cost and when the gel might be available, Dr. Kane said.
The study’s findings were released last week at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons annual conference in Denver.
