The slowing economy has driven two cosmetic-medicine companies out of business, while a third has been gobbled up by a corporate giant.
Artes Medical Inc. of San Diego filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Monday, citing declining revenue from ArteFill, its plastic-based filler that is injected into the face to smooth folds and hollow cheeks. (See microscopic view at right)
Rhytec Inc. of Waltham, Mass., filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Nov. 20, saying that the economic downturn left it unable to get financing for continued sales of its Portrait Plasma skin-rejuvenation device (photo below), which uses plasma-generated heat instead of laser light to stimulate the skin.
Mentor Corp. of Santa Barbara, which makes breast implants, announced Monday that it is being purchased by Johnson & Johnson, the huge health-care products corporation. Before the announcement, Mentor’s share price had dropped 58 percent this year, closing last month at $16.15.
Artes had $5.9 million in cash on hand as of the end of September and was losing about $11 million per quarter. The company said in a regulatory filing that it had to file for bankruptcy “as a result of decreasing consumer spending due to the severe economic downturn that resulted in the company’s sales being significantly lower than it had forecasted for the second half of 2008,” along with inability to strike a deal for new financing.
The Rhytec Inc. bankruptcy left cosmetic doctors scrambling for a source of disposable nozzles that are needed to use Portrait Plasma devices they had purchased. Rhytec Ltd., the British-based parent company of Rhytec Inc., said in a letter to doctors that it is exploring options for new funding that would allow it to resume American operations and again supply nozzles to customers.
Before Rhytec’s bankruptcy filing, Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the UCI Department of Dermatologist, bemoaned the loss of a company with an innovative and effective therapy. He said:
Unlike companies that market laserlipo devices that are selling like hot cakes and are universally gimmicks and which have made companies like Syneron and Cynosure very healthy bottom lines, Rhytec, which makes a device that actually works, looks like it is in a major tailspin. Such is the cynical life of an aesthetic device manufacturing company.
The cosmetic-medicine site Real Self reported, “Although the Portrait technology generated early buzz in the skin rejuvenation industry, it never quite made the mainstream like competing resurfacing devices such as Fraxel and ActiveFX.”
Related links:
- CEO quits as maker of ArteFill posts $12.3 million loss
- Giant J&J confronts Allergan in breast implant market
- Amid market turmoil, some patients skip plastic surgery
- Breast implants are down in the U.S.
- Slumping economy hits medspas
- Demand for plastic surgery drops; O.C. stereotype remains strong
- Sales of Botox, breast implants drop, but Allergan is upbeat
Reader surveys:
- As the economy slows, are you more or less likely to Botox yourself?
- Most people say they’re victims of beauty bias – or benefit from it
For more on cosmetic medicine, see links on the right side of this blog.
