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Abstract
Purpose
To characterize utilization patterns and treatment satisfaction with incobotulinumtoxinA for aesthetic indications and assess adherence to the Summary of Product Characteristics.
Patients and methods
Data were collected retrospectively from physicians in Germany, France, and the UK regarding patients (n=638) treated with incobotulinumtoxinA for aesthetic indications. Data on indication, treatment interval, dose injected, physician and patient satisfaction, and adverse drug reactions were recorded according to routine daily practice.
Results
Most patients (76.0%) received incobotulinumtoxinA for glabellar frown lines (GFL) and were given doses of ≤20 U. The majority of treatment intervals were 5 months or longer. Overall, 64.1% of patients were treated for off-label indications, sometimes in combination with treatment for GFL. The most frequently treated off-label indications were horizontal forehead lines (38.6%) and/or crow’s feet (CF; 31.7%); for CF, >95% of injected doses were ≤24 U. In Germany, a smaller proportion of patients were given incobotulinumtoxinA treatment for CF (27.6%), compared with France (40.4%) and the UK (33.2%), although country-specific differences were less prominent when treatment cycle data for CF were examined. Treatment satisfaction among physicians and patients (overall, and for GFL specifically) was very high, with excellent tolerability and only one mild adverse drug reaction reported.
Conclusion
In daily practice, incobotulinumtoxinA is mainly used for GFL; however, its use for CF and horizontal forehead lines (often in combination with GFL) is relatively common. Treatment satisfaction across aesthetic indications is high, and incobotulinumtoxinA is well tolerated, with time intervals of 5 months or longer between injections in the majority of cases. When considering factors such as dose and treatment interval, adherence to the Summary of Product Characteristics when treating GFL in daily practice is good. These results support previous reports that incobotulinumtoxinA is an effective treatment for GFL, with an excellent safety profile. Furthermore, incobotulinumtoxinA may display efficacy and tolerability in other indications.
Acknowledgments
Editorial assistance was provided by SCI Scientific Communications and Information, Oxford, UK, and funded by Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany.
Disclosure
Tatiana Pavicic has received honoraria from Merz Aesthetics and Galderma Pharma SA for speaker activities. She is a consultant for Merz Aesthetics and Galderma Pharma SA and serves on advisory boards for these companies. Welf Prager has acted as a consultant and lecturer for Allergan Inc., Merz Aesthetics GmbH, and Galderma Pharma SA. Markus Klöppel has received honoraria from Merz Aesthetics and Galderma Q-Med for speaker activities and lectures. Simon Ravichandran and Olivier Galatoire have received honoraria from Merz Aesthetics for speaker activities. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.