congeries

In 1991, dermatologist Alistair Carruthers made a surprise announcement to his colleagues. "We're going to use the most deadly agent known to humanity for the treatment of wrinkles," he told a meeting of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery in Orlando, Florida.

That agent - a paralysing protein extracted from the bacteria that cause botulism - was already being marketed as a drug called Botox, used to freeze the overactive muscles that cause crossed eyes. By persuading healthy people to try it off-label, Carruthers and his ophthalmologist wife Jean, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, had shown that it also immobilizes the muscles that furrow the brow.

It wasn't until April 2002 that this treatment was formally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But by then, lunchtime Botox 'face-lifts' were already de rigueur in certain social circles.

- Cosmeceutical sales: set to double over ten years.
- Wrinkles and age spots may soon be tackled with drugs.
- A cosmeceutical equivalent of Viagra could pique pharma's interest.

Drug discovery: In the eye of the beholder

по-моему, ни botox-party, ни cosmeceuticals ещё не вошли в словари; мне кажется, что чем традиционнее сфера (уход за телом в данном случае), тем с большим трудом она оснащается новыми словечками. всякие хай-теки не только быстрее изобретают новые термины, но и как-то легче их продают публике.