All over this youth-obsessed city, beauty junkies in search of the next miracle skin-care product are rushing to their dermatologists' offices on a quest: Find Prevage.
Launched just this month by Allergan Inc., the Irvine-based pharmaceutical company best known for its blockbuster Botox product, Prevage contains idebenone, an antioxidant that the company claims reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
At $115 an ounce, the cream is expensive. And there is a catch: Although Prevage is not a drug and does not require a prescription, it is only available through doctors' offices. The exclusivity has given the product more cachet, and articles in beauty and fashion magazines have heightened the appeal.
Last fall, dermatologists around Los Angeles say, patients-in-the-know began calling and demanding the 1-ounce vials of the then impossible-to-find lotion. Last month, Allergan sent Prevage to a select group of about a dozen doctors around the country, who began selling it to patients.
Now, about 500 doctors carry the coveted cream, Allergan officials say.
"My patients are savvy," says Dr. Joshua Wieder, a dermatologist in Los Angeles who is listed on Allergan's Prevage website as a doctor who has the product. He has gone through two 50-vial cases in two weeks. "They were asking, 'Is that new stuff in your office yet?' They were looking for it."
Since the official launch, some doctors' offices say they are getting calls from women in other states asking to have Prevage shipped to them, while others say they can't keep the product on the shelves.
"It's the greatest, hottest, supposedly new thing on the market," says Dr. John Joseph, a Beverly Hills dermatologist. "I don't have much experience [with Prevage], but I finally got some in my hot little hands."
According to Allergan marketers, what sets Prevage apart from the raft of other anti-aging creams, lotions and potions in the massive cosmeceutical market is the science behind it.
Allergan's website describes idebenone, the active ingredient in Prevage, as "scientifically proven to be the most potent antioxidant available in skin care today."
Idebenone is a synthetic antioxidant. Sun, smog, cigarette smoke and even oxygen create byproducts, known as free radicals, which cause damage to the skin. Antioxidants scavenge these free radicals before they can cause that damage. Vitamin C, vitamin E, Kinetin, coenzyme Q10 and alpha lipoic acid are antioxidants that are found in various skin products.
