There’s a new age-defying treatment coming to a dermatology office near you.
Rivaling widely popular anti-aging injectables like Botox and Daxxify, the recently FDA-approved neuromodulator Letybo has arrived State-side after years of use overseas.
The Hugel-manufactured Letybo has soared in popularity in South Korea, where providers “have used it zillions of times,” Dr. Roy Kim, a board-certified plastic surgeon based in San Francisco, told Allure.
Known as Botulax, the botulinum toxin A jab — — used to treat glabellar lines, or “11”s — is a more affordable option for youth chasers.
“Getting Letybo in Korea is less expensive than getting your hair styled,” said Kim, who has yet to offer Letybo in his practice but plans to.
In the US, Letybo could give the five other neuromodulartors — Botox, Daxxify, Dysport, Xeomin and Jeuveau — a run for their money.
“In Korea, they have over 70 neurotoxin competitors,” Kim said. “Botox is considered a very good product there, but the problem is it’s expensive. So Letybo, or Botulax, is viewed as a great product — similar to other neuromodulators, but way less expensive.”
He estimates that Letybo could cost around $9 to $12 per unit — meaning 25 units of the injectable would rack up a price tag of $225 to $300 — while Botox costs $12 to $18 on average, a total of $300 to $450 for 25 units.
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Cheri Frey is among the first to adopt Letybo, telling Allure that she’s already used it on “a handful of patients.” She expects the product to be readily available in the US by the end of March.
Frey’s patients particularly enthusiastic about the new product are those who say that “Botox has been a little bit inconsistent,” lamenting the time it takes to see results or that it just isn’t working the same as it once did.
“Anecdotally, it does work faster,” said Kim, adding that Letybo can take just a few days to kick in while the results of Botox aren’t seen for almost a week.
In fact, according to Real Self, providers have seen results in as little as two or three days with the use of Letybo.
NYC board-certified dermatologist Dr. Doris Day argued that “there is no instant onset of any of the neuromodulators.”
“They’re all going to take hours to a couple of days,” she told Allure. “I don’t think the amount of time to onset is going to be the critical factor that my patients look for.”
According to Real Self, Letybo differs from competitors in that it contains fewer additional proteins, which make for “targets for the antibodies that ultimately cause the neurotoxin to stop working.” Less proteins, in theory, mean that it could last longer — but experts say there isn’t any proof.
“FDA trials have shown the product to be safe and efficacious, so feel free to try it out, but since the FDA approval is for four months and not six, don’t expect it to last six months,” California board-certified dermatologist Dr. Ava Shamban, who also was a clinical investigator on the Leybo FDA trials, told Allure.
