Botox injection for cometic use - Essay Example

? Botox Injection for Cosmetic Use: Case Study Botox Injection for Cosmetic Use: Case Study Introduction Botulinum toxin, popularly known by its trade name Botox, is a protein and neurotoxin developed by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botox is used for several medical as well as cosmetic procedures. Today, Botox injection that consists of a small dose of botulinum toxin is used for a variety of cosmetic applications. Botox injection is widely used to paralyze facial muscles for the purpose of preventing the development of wrinkles. According to a report published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Botox based cosmetic operation was most common in the US with 4.6 million procedures as of 2007 (Botox, n. d.). Although side effects of the Botox injection’s many cosmetic applications are still debated, the use of Botox injection for cosmetic purposes has been increasing steadily. This paper will explore the potentiality of the Botox injection in cosmetic applications using the Porter’s Five Forces Model concept. Five forces Forces driving service area competition Conclusion Intensity of rivalry Allergan Inc and Medicis are the two main companies involved in the distribution of Botox in the US. Botox injections are sold across the world despite geographic differences or medical culture. Data indicate that Botox injection was used in nearly 4.6 cosmetic operation procedures in the US as of 2007. The same trend can be seen through the global nations, particularly developed nations. Over the last few years, a growing beauty conscious culture in the Europe assisted the Botox market to achieve tremendous growth rate despite the worse effects of the sovereign debt crisis. It is interesting to note that the Botox achieved a fabulous growth rate when many other leading drugs and pharmaceutical products failed to even maintain their growth levels. Market experts anticipate that Botox sales would continue to grow because of the product’s rapid effects and growing concerns over appearance. Online market for Botox has also been performing well over the last few years. Since it is very easy to purchase Botox products from any parts of the globe using internet, today Botox manufactures focus more on the online sector. In the United Kingdom (as cited in Qureshi, 2009), Botox clinics generally charge from ?110 to ?400 an injection. For beauty conscious Europeans, it is not a huge price. Hence, the sales (both physical and online) of Botox injections are likely to grow over the coming years unless there is no effective alternative developed. High While analyzing the Botox market worldwide, it is obvious that competition in the Botox market continues to grow despite the recent global economic slowdown. Rivalry is likely to remain intense in the Botox market as there is no effective alternative to Botox injection yet. Threat of new entrants Although Botox injections are very well known for their cosmetic uses, only a few of the cosmetic applications of the Botox have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is still researching short term as well as long term side effects of Botox injection’s cosmetic use. The two major Botox distributors in US, Allergan Inc. and Medicis have been constantly in the new as a result of their involvement with Botox products. In 2008, Botox users filed a lawsuit against the Allergan Inc. arguing that the organization had not properly communicated the dangers of Botox injections to users. The lawsuit mainly resulted from a woman’s death as a result of use of Botox for cosmetic reasons. Subsequently, public interest group including Public Citizen complained against the Botox products for their life threatening complications. As a result, FDA required the Botox distributors to issue black box warning (it is the strongest safety measure taken by the FDA) for all Botox products. Hence, these legal complexities associated with Botox injection distribution would persuade new marketers not to enter this business field. Similarly, new entrants need to invest a huge amount initially to enter this rapidly growing market segment. Since there are two well established marketers operating in the Botox market, new entry would be a difficult task for marketers. Low A number or entry barriers such as FDA regulations, frequent lawsuits, and high entry cost would adversely affect new entrants’ business interests in the Botox market. Hence, the threat of new entrants is likely to remain low. Threat of substitutes As mentioned already, Botox injection is mainly used to prevent the development of wrinkles. It seems that a number of alternative surgical and other procedures including dermabrasion; microdermabrasion; laser, light source, and radiofrequency treatments; chemical peel, soft tissue fillers; and face lift are performed to treat the issue of wrinkles. Although these procedures may provide the patient with desired results, most of them would last from several months to several years. Therefore, these procedures may not be really helpful for the removal of wrinkles within a short period of time. However, reports indicate that laser and light source treatments are being increasingly used for cosmetic applications such as skin resurfacing for acne scars treatment or wrinkle treatment, removal of pigmented blemishes, and hair reduction (MNT, n. d.). As compared to other Botox alternatives, laser procedures appear to be the closest substitute to the Botox as they have fewer side effects. In addition to surgical procedures, medications including tropical retinoids and other nonprescription creams are used for various cosmetic treatments. Today, it seems that different combinations of different surgical procedures and medications are employed in a variety of cosmetic applications. Reports indicate that prevalence of this practice is increasing because this treatment methodology has minimum side effects and other future complications. Many medical professionals opine that there is no close substitute to Botox injections. In contrast to this opinion, authors like Pires and Stanton (2005, p. 202), claim that Avon Clinical can be an effective alternative to Botox injections. In addition, many physicians consider Silicone injection as a better alternative to Botox injection. Medium to high It is clear that treatments based on laser and light sources are being developed as effective alternatives to Botox injection. However, majority of the existing substitutes have limited used whereas Botox injection can have a range of applications including brow furrow line, brow elevation, brow lowering, crow’s feet, horizontal forehead lines, and wrinkle prevention. Bargaining power of customers As discussed above, the demand of Botox injections for cosmetic purposes is constantly increasing and is likely to grow further over the next years. The beauty conscious culture developing across the globe, especially in Western countries, would greatly promote the demand of Botox injections. Since modern people are increasingly concerned about their appearance, they would be ready to spend any price for beauty products. Generally, bargaining is not possible in the pharmaceutical industry as most of the pharmaceutical products including Botox injections are used to improve an individual’s health status or appearance. Although Botox injection cannot be considered as a necessity product, its demand is likely to be stable regardless of price variations (price inelastic). Botox products are not likely to be purchased in bulk and therefore customers do not have the scope of bargaining. Since the Botox is growing to be the top cosmetic product in the US market, customers’ bargaining power is restricted. Low Since Botox injection is identified to be a price inelastic product, bargaining power of customers is very low. In addition, the pharmaceutical nature of the product negatively affects the customer bargaining power. Bargaining power of suppliers Evidently, a number of recent lawsuits against the Botox brand adversely affected the brand image and this situation reduced the bargaining power of suppliers to some extent. Hence, the Botox distributors can argue that selling Botox injection would hurt their companies’ good will. Issuance of the black box warning is another factor limiting the bargaining power of suppliers because such a warning gives a message that Botox injection can have life threatening complications and hence it is extremely dangerous to health. In addition, Botox distributors are facing potential marketing challenges because critics allege that Botox companies focus more on profitability rather than patient safety. Despite all these difficulties, Botox injection still has a growing market demand and this condition adds value to bargaining power of Botox suppliers. Medium Suppliers cannot exert excess bargaining power over distributors as a result of increasing lawsuits and criticisms against the Botox injection. However, growing demand for Botox in spite of all allegations would benefit suppliers. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that Botox injection has further growth potential. Even though degree of competitive rivalry is high in the market, threat of new entrants is very low. Developing laser and light source methods for cosmetic applications are likely to become potential alternatives to Botox injection and hence threat of new entrants is medium to high in the industry. However, Botox distributors have a range of potential competencies in terms of bargaining power of customers and suppliers. This product is price inelastic mainly due to the fact that modern people are increasingly beauty conscious. Therefore, the demand of Botox injection is likely to grow over the coming years despite increasing criticisms and FDA regulations. References Botox. (n. d.). Go Figure: Medical Weight Loss Center. Retrieved from http://www.gofiguremt.com/botoxsub1.html MNT. (n. d.). Cosmetic Laser Treatments. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9580.php Pires, G. D & Stanton, P. J. (2005). Ethnic Marketing: Accepting the Challenge of Cultural Diversity. US: Cengage Learning EMEA Qureshi, H. (2009). Botox injections for sale on the internet. The Guardian, April 30. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/apr/29/botox-for-sale-online Read More