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Forget looking to economists to get a sense of how the economy is doing—just look at Botox sales.
Bracing for tightened consumer spending amid recession fears, pharmaceutical giant AbbVie projected fewer people would shell out cash for Botox and lowered its guidance for its aesthetics portfolio by $600 million in 2023. The economy didn’t boom last year, but there was no recession, and most economists don’t think one is likely to hit this year, either.
AbbVie’s 2023 Botox revenue reflects that trend: Sales didn’t soar in 2023, but they didn’t decline either, according to earnings released on February 2.
AbbVie reported $1.7 billion in US Botox Cosmetic sales in 2023, a 1% increase over 2022. Sales picked up by the end of the year, with the company reporting $453 million in US sales for Q4 2023, a 7.3% increase over Q4 2022.
“We continue to see sustained momentum in the recovery of the US facial toxin market, which was a primary driver of growth in the fourth quarter,” Carrie Strom, SVP of AbbVie and president of Global Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie subsidiary, said in the company’s recent earnings call.
Revenue for AbbVie’s global aesthetics portfolio, which also includes the popular dermal filler Juvederm, fell slightly (-0.8%) to $5.3 billion for the full year, but picked up with a 6.4% increase in Q4 over the previous year.
A potential Botox competitor called Daxxify, made by Revance Therapeutics, may soon challenge AbbVie’s Botox sales: In clinical trials, Daxxify injections lasted six to nine months, while Botox injections typically last three months.
But in preliminary earnings released on January 8, Revance reported that Daxxify brought in between $83.5–$84.5 million in 2023, making it not quite enough of a competitor for Botox just yet. Daxxify may be gaining momentum, however, as its Q4 sales numbers were between $23.5–$24.5 million, a 22% increase over Q3.
“We remain very encouraged by the trends that we are seeing, which we believe reflect growing injector confidence in the product’s duration, onset, and appearance of improved skin quality,” Revance CEO Mark Foley said in the preliminary report.
Looking to the future, AbbVie said it expects to bring in $2.9 billion in global Botox sales this year.
“Botox Cosmetic remains the clear market leader with strong and stable share, despite new competitive entrants,” Strom said.