Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has received Health Canada regulatory approval for Jublia (efinaconazole 10% solution), a topical triazole antifungal agent developed for distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO). This is the first regulatory approval worldwide for Jublia.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is accepting nominations for its 2014 elections. Members who are willing to be considered as candidates can submit nominations electronically at www.aad.org/about-aad/academy-call-for-nominations/reference-materials. The deadline to apply is November 1, 2013.
Allergan (www.allergan.com) has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Korean pharmaceutical company Medytox to develop and, if approved, commercialize certain neurotoxin product candidates currently in development, including a potential liquid-injectable product. Upon closing, Allergan will pay Medytox an upfront payment of U.S. $65 million and Medytox will grant Allergan exclusive rights, worldwide outside of Korea.
Bayer Healthcare, maker of Finacea (azelaic acid) Gel, 15%, has updated its Rosacea Concierge (www.rosaceaconcierge.com) program, an online resource for the estimated 16 million people living with rosacea. The new site offers information on rosacea in the form of video tutorials from a team of experts, including a dermatologist, nutritionist and an esthetician, who offer perspectives and recommendations covering many aspects of living with rosacea.
Modernizing Medicine, the creator of the Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), a cloud-based specialty-specific electronic medical record (EMR) system, has received $14 million from Summit Partners, a global growth equity investor.
Modernizing Medicine provides specialty-specific EMR systems for the dermatology, ophthalmology, optometry, orthopedics, and plastic and cosmetic surgery markets. The EMA system’s cloud-based technology is available as a native iPad application or from any web-enabled Mac or PC. This year, Software Advice named EMA the No. 1 tablet EHR.
The estimated incidence of severe complications from dermal filler injections is very low—0.0001%—and the bulk of these complications occur following treatment in the glabella area, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. For the published study, “Complications Following Injection of Soft-Tissue Fillers” (Aesthetic Surgery Journal, August 2013), Cemile Nurdan Ozturk, MD, et al, searched the National Library of Medicine, the Cochrane Library, and Ovid MEDLINE as well as relevant articles published through August 2012.
Jeannette R. Jakus, MD, MBA, has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the American Academy of Dermatology Translational Biotechnology Fellowship, a partnership of the American Academy of Dermatology and Galderma Research & Development, SNC.
As part of the fellowship, Dr. Jakus will work in drug development and translational medical research at Galderma’s R&D facility located in Sophia Antipolis, France, beginning in fall 2013.
Practices that are seeking education on practice marketing can take advantage of a new seminar series from medical aesthetic device manufacturer Alma Lasers. The company is hitting the road this fall with its Practice for Success seminars, which are led by aesthetic professionals and focus on marketing strategies to grow aesthetic practices. Topics include:
• Targeting higher-value patients through online marketing;
• Increasing patient-to-patient referrals with social media marketing;
• Building an active internet presence to enhance reputation;
Intense pulsed light treatments increase the expression of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) in the skin of patients with mild-to-moderate acne, and this action may help explain its efficacy in reducing acne breakouts. Musheera M Ali, MD, et al, of the Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, analyzed biopsies taken from 20 patients at baseline, 48 hours after one IPL treatment and one week following treatment. The biopsies were immunohistochemically analyzed to determine the expression of TGF-β1 and the immunolocalization of Smad3.
Burn patients may soon have a new treatment option available, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has entered into a contract with Novan Therapeutics (www.novantherapeutics.com) to advance the development of a nitric oxide-based therapy as a topical treatment for thermal burns. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), an agency within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, will provide funding of $7.8 million over two years.
