COSMETIC MEDICINE

Quarterly revenues were up 70 percent to $31.5 million at Cynosure Inc., the maker of the newly popular Smartlipo laser liposuction devices, which are in use at several Orange County locations.

But not everyone is happy about the implications of that news.

Christopher Zachary, M.D., chairman of the Department of Dermatology at UC-Irvine, has nothing but criticism for the company’s Smartlipo machine:

“I am delighted to see one my favorite laser manufacturing companies, Cynosure, doing so well financially with sales up by 70%. However, investors should understand that this is based on the growing popularity of the Smartlipo device, which for my money is a 5 second wonder. I have seen much of the ’science’ behind this, and I am unimpressed. And for the life of me, I can’t see how this device is going to impact anyone’s practice, except to be able to use it for marketing purposes. And another thing, it’s not very ’smart’. Indeed it is entirely unselective.”

The company, based in Westford, Mass., said its profit for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 was $4.4 million, compared to a loss a year ago.

In the company’s quarterly report, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Davin stated:

“The combination of strong demand for our newest aesthetic laser systems and continued operating efficiency drove record financial results for Cynosure in the third quarter of 2007.

“Laser product revenue increased 74 percent year-over-year, reflecting the rapid market penetration of Smartlipo, our proprietary LaserBodySculpting workstation, and Affirm, our new multi-energy platform for anti-aging.

“Smartlipo is becoming a highly recognized brand in the emerging laser lipolysis marketplace, and we are supporting the product platform with a comprehensive training program that now includes 16 sites in North America.

“With the launch of our 18-watt Smartlipo at the Plastic Surgery 2007 Meeting, we now have a family of three LaserBodySculpting products to meet the unique needs of our aesthetic surgical customer base.

“Both the 6-watt and 10-watt Smartlipo workstations are upgradable to the new 18-watt system, which is designed for dermatologists and plastic surgeons with higher volume practices. These customers appreciate the ease of use and efficiency of the new system. It allows them to complete a typical procedure in about one-third the time as the original Smartlipo, with the same level of safety and efficacy as the 6-watt and 10-watt versions.”

This post was updated Nov. 7 to incorporate Dr. Zachary’s comments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 8:59 am and is filed under Cosmetic medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.