Changing the Injectable Pricing Game

Consumers price shopping for treatment with one of Revance Therapeutics’ FDA approved Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) facial fillers might find their online efforts to price-shop providers are stonewalled.

That’s because Revance wants consumers to pick their filler providers based on outcomes and experience, not price.

“We have created a global brand policy that asks that our partners do not advertise the price of RHA to consumers,” says Dustin Sjuts, Revance’s chief commercial officer. “Instead, we partner with experienced aesthetic providers who focus on patient outcomes, creating an elevated patient experience as well as innovation in differentiated products, such as the RHA Collection.”

Revance announced early in 2020 that it had signed a U.S. distribution agreement with TEOXANE SA to become the exclusive commercialization partner for RHA technology. The FDA has approved RHA 2, RHA 3, and RHA 4 for correction of dynamic wrinkles and folds such as nasolabial folds. RHA 1 is in clinical trials, with an anticipated 2021 approval. Revance’s neuromodulator DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection (DAXI), which is expected to create a new category of long-lasting neuromodulators lasting an average 24 to 28 weeks, also is awaiting the FDA’s nod.

While Sjuts says he cannot comment on how Revance will handle advertised pricing with still unapproved products, including DAXI, it is the company’s belief that marketing related to its products should focus on innovation and experience rather than price. The select offices that offer RHA fillers can charge what they feel is appropriate and reveal prices to individual patients post-consultation, he says.

Some aesthetic providers advertise price, but some don’t.

Facial plastic surgeon Paul J. Carniol, MD, president of The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and founder of Carniol Plastic Surgery in Summit, N.J., says it has long been his practice’s policy not to advertise prices. And he realizes that some people who do shop for price might not become patients.

“It is the nature of our office that we do not try to compete on price. We emphasize quality and skills,” Dr. Carniol says. “I think that is an interesting strategy that Revance has. There are certainly consumers that are willing to pay a higher price for filler if they feel they are getting better quality. I think that Revance’s aim is that group.”

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