Latest / The Science of Skin / Skincare CEO: Amber Edwards, Global Head, Alastin, on leadership, change management, and innovation

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Skincare CEO: Amber Edwards, Global Head, Alastin, on leadership, change management, and innovation · The Science of Skin

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, welcome everyone to this episode of Skin Care Confidential.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Dr.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Patty Ferris, and I'm joined today by Dr.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Ted Lane, my co-host.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, uh so excited to be here, Patty.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: We have with us today Miss Amber Edwards, who is the global head of Alastana Galderma Company.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Amber has been with Alastin in terms of their as their president since 2022, prior to that chief commercial officer.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but prior to that, just a vast experience both in the aesthetic and and pharma world, uh, including developing a novel aesthetic suspension suture uh with a company called Sinclair Pharmaceuticals, as well as working in the dry eye franchise and of course the aesthetic franchise within Allergan.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: So just so much wonderful experience.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And and we just could not be more lucky to have Amber with us.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the whole idea with Skincare Confidential is to give you an insider's viewpoint in the skincare industry.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And what better way to do that than with you know the president of one of the fastest growing skincare companies, at least prestige skincare companies that we have in our space.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, Amber, thank you so much for being with us.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what an honor.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was really excited when I saw the announcement that you were going to be starting this podcast.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I can't imagine a better duo to do something like this.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, thrilled that you've invited me on.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm looking forward to the conversation.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's get started.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I obviously I just read part of your CV, but can you give us kind of your path to getting to the point where you are?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you've really kind of worked your way up, and now you're the global head of, as I said, just one of the fastest growing skincare companies.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Give us an idea of how this happened.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, especially, you know, because I'm just so young with all the skincare products.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: I it's it's been a time flies.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, no, it's been a really my journey's been a really fun one.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: And as kind of a rule of thumb, I've always had this idea of never, never try to map out too carefully what your path is going to be.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think if you if you really try to map it out too much, you miss a lot of opportunities.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And to be very honest, so much of my journey has been uh opportunities that that came up that I never was even looking for, but I was ready, willing, and uh, you know, always excited and passionate to try something new and take on a new challenge.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I joined the overall healthcare and pharmaceutical industry back in oh wow, uh 1997, gonna age myself a little bit.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was a sales rep for uh Park Davis pharmaceuticals, uh, working in the uh diabetes, cardiovascular space, um, moved into women's health care and depression and anxiety, um, took on a number of different roles.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: That company was acquired by Pfizer, and I moved to New York City, which uh kind of became my chosen home and my home base for many, many years, uh, but worked in Pfizer in a variety of just sales training and marketing roles in a number of different categories.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think where things really shifted for me was back in 2004 when Allergan called.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, Botox Cosmetic was still sort of in its um early days.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they were still, you know, trying to figure out how to uh make consumers feel really good about this space in general, this whole medical aesthetic space.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I was asked to come on board and um lead the marketing uh team uh focusing really on the consumer side, which has always been a passion of mine, is consumer marketing.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I do think so much of my journey also has been rooted in really trying to understand what consumers care about, uh, what their behaviors are, what they're looking for, and ultimately how to give them the highest level of satisfaction possible.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I was with uh Alargan for many years, working across all of the different aesthetic products, part of many acquisitions.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh my last sort of adventure with Allargan was heading up the international aesthetics business.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I lived over in Europe uh from 2015 to 18 and had the opportunity to launch products in a number of different markets, such as China, Saudi Arabia.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, really, really fantastic experience just to broaden my overall cultural um sensibilities and understand the different rules and regulations in different markets.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I left in 2018, and as you mentioned, um, I joined Sinclair Pharma, a really interesting uh European um medical aesthetics company that has a fantastic uh line of products.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: They've you know expanded greatly.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: But at that time, the only product that was um approved in the US was Silhouette Instalift, uh, which is uh, as you mentioned, a thread, a suture.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I was brought on to be the president of North America to really establish Sinclair, um Sinclair's presence here in the US.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that was a lot of fun, and we had great plans, and then COVID hit.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that was not part of the original plan, and it kind of put a halt on some of our ambitions, but I was just incredibly lucky to get a call from uh Diane Guster at Alastin Skincare.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was uh had a couple of um colleagues, former colleagues who were on the board of Alastin who recommended me uh for the position of chief commercial officer.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh what a ride.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's been it's been a lot of fun.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say, and the rest is history, what an incredible career.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: No glass ceiling for you.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: You broke that a long time ago.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Congratulations.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's a phenomenal story.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think when we talk about Alastin as dermatologists, one of the things we think about first is the whole notion of post-procedure and periprocedural.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: And they've really carved out a niche, I think, in the at least of um medical dispensing brands for that.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think our listeners would be interested to hear how all of that evolved and and how that affects your strategic direction as well.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, absolutely.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's everything.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's what uh, you know, we're really proud of having been pioneers in that space.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's and it comes down to our founders just being visionary.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the founders of Alastin back in 2015 recognized that minimally invasive procedures continue to skyrocket, right?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's what people want.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and although there were many skincare brands on the market, no skincare line had really seen that opportunity to partner with procedures and actually focus very specifically on how can topical medical-grade skincare actually both prep the skin in advance of a procedure, you know, really clean out the extracellular matrix to make sure that the skin is ready for the impending trauma that comes with a procedure, but then also post-procedure actually help the skin heal as quickly as possible.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the founders recognized that opportunity uh very quickly brought on uh just an unbelievable team of scientists.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Dr.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Dr.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Alan Woodgerow, who I know you've met, I believe he spoke at uh the last conference in the world.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I just feel privileged to be in his presence every day.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's just such an inspiration and always thinking of what's next and how do we just constantly improve.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, his entire background is in wound healing.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, what better specialist, right, to come on and actually think about essentially what's happening to the skin in a procedure is a wound.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so he uh, you know, wanted to develop proprietary peptides to help actually uh the skin learn how to heal itself faster.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then we brought on uh an incredible team of formulators led by Dr.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: John or John Gerudo, who um was well known uh by some other brands.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: He actually worked at Allergan for many years.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: A legend in the formulation space.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely legendary when it comes to you know uh cosmetic chemistry in general.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: So he that duo of Alan and John, uh they're behind everything we do.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And to your point, Patty, you know, peri procedure space is what we what put us on the map.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we are always looking at what the newest procedures are.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: We we try to stay very close to uh what new energy-based devices are coming out, what new injectables are coming out, and we quickly you know try to connect with those companies and say, let's do clinical studies together.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Let's figure out, you know, what's our best product to help your procedure actually perform even better, uh, which is you know great for both the medical provider as well as for the patients.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's interesting.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Patty, I'm just thinking about the what's going on right now in skincare with the heparin sulfate analog.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: People are really focusing on that dermal matrix, like Amber was just saying, and cleaning it out or augmenting it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got the heparin sulfate analog that's available.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now we've got people coming out with these X exosomes, which are mainly protein derived protein, platelet derived um, again, for wound healing, right?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's platelets kind of arrive for wound healing.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so it makes sense that the exosome should be derived from the platelets, but it's all about the wound healing, Amber, like you said, and I think that was probably one of the key insights early on in Elastin's um evolution is we need to focus on wound healing here, but the wound, not the way that dermatologists usually think about wound healing in terms of an ulcer or whatever medical issue that we're dealing with.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about wounds from cosmetic procedures that we need to heal.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that, you know, honestly, just that insight has carried Elastin to the forefront of dermatology, and so many now are trying to catch up.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we uh one of one of your questions I'm sure is gonna come up because it always does is what are the trends in skincare?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the big trend right now is peri procedure.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're, you know, we try to be a trendsetter in that in that notion and really lead the way in thinking about, okay, where where is there a gap?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, ultimately, where is there a gap in um in the toolbox that our providers um who we see as our partners in and how you're treating patients, where is there a gap?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: How can we actually help you um when it comes to all the other things that you're doing in your practice?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really at the root of it.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, now that I think about this uh even more, Elastin was really the first to come out with a pre-procedure kit as well, right?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: With the nectar and and just kind of really thinking about how do we prime the skin so that when that injury happens, the wound healing process is shortened and uh we're able to get these patients back to their regular lives as well as obtain the best outcome from that procedure.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is am I saying that correctly?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Completely.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's all about reducing downtime.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Who has time to be you know hidden away out of the world for a week or two weeks, and then and then accelerating you know the results also.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And in some cases, with some of our products, even making the results even better, you know, really maximizing those results too.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you look at, you know, everything started with nectar, but if you look at uh transform, um, you know, that we started using that product, right?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's that was you know, for to no pun intended, but it was transformative, right?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was uh it really was all about um helping the results of uh cry of you know people see.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna just give a shout out to Enhance because that's another great product that was the brainchild of elastin, which is in paired with injectables, and there's you know, there really isn't, I don't think, anything else in um in our therapeutic armamentarium that has that sort of technology to reduce bruising and swelling, and it's an awesome product.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's an awesome product.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: So they they have been on the very forefront of all of that.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely, yeah.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: We love that product.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um just to jump in, the enhance, you know, the science behind that product is unbelievable.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of if I'm tell me if I'm wrong, Emmer, but it's instigating macrophages to come in and really kind of take care of all the red blood cells that that are present after uh the procedure, as as well as the peptides to to build up the dermal matrix and get those fibroblasts going.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's unbelievable because every time, you know, we usually think about Arnica, but there's no data to support Arnica.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Zero.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so we really are stuck.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's at the root of everything for us, is actually, you know, everything we do is about having the actual evidence to support it.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's where you know we have this three-step process that we're incredibly proud of.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I I would challenge anyone to find another skincare line that puts the amount of rigor in, but it starts with gene expression.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um Alan, Dr.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Widgerow, runs, uh he heads up the tissue engineering lab at UC Irvine, you know, in his spare time.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um he has a side job at UC Irvine, also as a department head of the chief plastic surgeon.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but he, you know, in his spare time, he does everything in a lab first.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: He actually looks at gene expression to see how the different ingredients that we're considering actually interact with each other.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: What may upregulate, what may downregulate, how they actually interact with each other.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Then we take that into histology.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's then, you know, biopsies to see what's actually happening in the skin.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then we do actual clinical studies to see it in real life practice.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And um exactly it's the science behind it.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think with enhance, it was a really unique concept, you know, going beyond Arnica, which is just kind of just this accepted thing.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I think what we've been able to create with Enhance is a product that does speed up that process with the macrophages and just makes it all move along much faster.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: So when you look at patients, you know, who have had enhance versus those who haven't, they just go through that entire bruising process much faster.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And they're completely healed much quicker.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And there's data to support that.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, in the trials that were done absolutely support that.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, as I think about the distribution channels for the Elastin line, you guys have really remained loyal to the physician office thus far.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like, you know, now with the with the Galderma acquisition, do you see that changing in the near to to midterm future, Amber?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Anything?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Any plans on on going more mass or going online?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it's a great question.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's a question I get every single day.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And by the doctors.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: By doctors, even by, you know, yeah, by everybody.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um we are 100% committed to physicians.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, my my mission will always be anything that we consider doing strategically.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: My first question is does this support our healthcare professionals?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't, I don't want to do it.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and even when we did decide to start to go online and build up an online presence, even then, it really was all about providing another income stream for our healthcare providers when COVID hit.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's when we started our real digital efforts.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Prior to that, it was mostly just product information pages, but we quickly realized that with offices closed, we could actually, we immediately created 2,500 vanity URLs, very specific URLs that we sent out to all of our accounts and said, hey, if you put this on your website, even if your office is closed, your patients can now order their product.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: They're automatically linked to you if they're coming through your URL.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: And every purchase they make, not only the first purchase, but any purchase they make moving forward is gonna be linked to you.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna get a commission for that purchase.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how our online efforts started.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that really took off.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: We have uh healthcare providers today who are, you know, have two to three hundred thousand dollars in completely passive income coming into their practice just from these URLs.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we actually do all the fulfillment.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you don't even have to have the product in stock for that.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: We we fulfill it, we ship it.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's just a great example of how we want to make sure we stay true.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now, um, we are pressured all the time um to go on to other online retail stores, and we've said no to every single one.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the only ones that we do support are uh our healthcare provider sites, right?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, of course, through your own practice website, yeah, we want to support that.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's a challenge.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Amazon, I I uh I was, I don't care who you are, products are gonna end up on Amazon unless you are willing to put them in.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we have three different law firms that we're working with, um, going after every single Amazon reseller that we can figure out who they are.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we've won every lawsuit we've done so far, but it's but it's whackable, you know.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you knock one out and two more pop up, and yeah, the whole anti-diversion thing is a huge problem for every company.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's a it's a major problem.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sort of to switch gears.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: One of the big initiatives we're seeing with a lot of the companies is, of course, addressing patients with skin of color.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious how you guys are working in that arena and if you have any initiatives around that.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's absolutely key, and it's one of the many reasons.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm sure we'll talk about Galderma, but one of the big reasons I was so excited to join, have a last-in join the Galderma portfolio is because all of these environmental and social and sustainability initiatives are for you know at the forefront for Galderma as a bigger company.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, the way when I think about um skin of color and diversity, I kind of think about it in three different ways.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: There's inclusion in marketing, so that's imagery.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's the way we market products and making sure that consumers of all skin types feel completely included in how we're representing skin care.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think several companies, including us, have uh tried to make sure that we're we're being um, we have a great deal of diversity in the photography that we're using.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the second area that I think about is, and this is one that doesn't get any attention, but to me it's probably the most important, is when it comes to employment opportunities.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um I am doing everything I possibly can to open up internship opportunities and try to reach communities who don't normally land, you know, we don't when we recruit for a position, we get a lot of resumes from people who are not people, you know, skin of color because they don't have the experience.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I keep asking myself, how can I create opportunities to give more people experience so that they do become better qualified to be able to take on these positions?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then the third piece is the kind of the more obvious one, which is what are we doing with our products?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: And we are um, you know, constantly thinking about how we can recruit for our clinical studies a wider variety of patient types, patient skincare types.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, recruiting is always tough, but uh, you know, in our latest product that we just launched a few months ago, which is on track to become our most successful product, which is Aluminate, our pigment product, which is breaking every record, you know, that was really important to us to say, okay, this is a condition that is more prevalent in certain skin types.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: So let's make sure that those skin types are represented in the clinical studies that we do.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so we we really tried to make sure we were recruited from all different Fitzpatrick skin types that um that we've opened, that we looked at areas of the country where we needed to make sure we were getting the right people into those clinical trials.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, these are some of the ways that we're kind of looking at that.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it's we can all get better.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll put that out there too.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: We're taking really positive steps, but as an industry, we can all get much better here.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I so I believe you, and I and I would love to echo those statements.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: We could all get better.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And as someone who runs a trial site, you know, it's I feel the pressure and the desire as well to try and get all all all patients in the door for trials.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: We need to we need to have trials represent the society that we live in.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it's difficult.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's difficult because of uh so many uh you know longstanding uh issues uh in regards to uh the trust uh people have in clinical trials and the and what's going on with the the different ethnicities and races, uh as well as just you know getting people in the door when they're busy and the knowledge out there that the clinical trial is going on.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I uh you know I'd love to echo those statements and just say, look, you know, I appreciate what industry is doing, in particular what you what you just said, what you're doing in terms of employment as well as marketing, but also at the clinical trial sites, we need to do a better job uh of trying to get all differ different skin types through the door so that we can help even at the at this basic level, you know.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, uh in addition to to that initiative, I another huge theme in the skincare industry is sustainability.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Speak to what you're doing uh in Alast and within Alastan.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know it has to align with what Galderma is doing as well uh in terms of sustainability initiatives.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, certainly.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh another another really complicated one.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and this is where you know we're trying to balance very carefully um keeping science at the forefront and not becoming gimmicky.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of uh companies, unfortunately, in order to be sustainable, will throw ingredients in it and that that don't have any scientific backing, right?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I think first and foremost, science is what's most important to us.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: But that said, we are actively looking at several different areas, and this is where Galderma has a fantastic initiative in place that's aligned with the United Nations overall goal to be to have minimal to no impact on the environment by 2030.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so as a broader company, and we're already looking at our manufacturing plant to pull them into this bigger, broader initiative, is to look at ways to reduce waste, um, first and foremost, everything we can do to actually eliminate uh and reduce waste as much as possible, um, to reduce gas emissions.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, already with elastin products, we are, we uh the majority of our formulations use a cold process, which significantly reduces the amount of energy that's needed.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, and then looking at also ways to reduce water, you know, water usage.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Water is such a living here in Southern California, we know that water is a uh something that's that we're losing very quickly.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so um we're working with our suppliers, with our partners to uh, you know, make sure we're doing everything we can to look at climate, water, um, and and uh reducing waste overall.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then as part of that, you know, we're constantly meeting with um different components uh suppliers too.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have uh room to improve in even just our packaging.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: We've already made some improvements.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: We just launched some of our newer products in brand new components, and that's something over the next two years, I think you'll See some exciting changes with our overall packaging as well as you know looking for ways to uh just become better uh overall when it comes to uh sustainability.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, gosh, this is a 360 view, isn't it?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's so many, so many companies are facing the same.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Very interesting.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: So we've talked a couple of times about the Galderma Association, and I thought that was such an interesting uh place for elastin to land.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe talk a little bit about that, especially with you know, you're really a medical skin care line, and Galderma's been so heavily involved in the consumer space with Cetophil.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm sure there's some uh growing pains, maybe, and challenges kind of bringing those two together, but obviously there's strengths as well, as you've already mentioned.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: You've benefited a lot from your association with them.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I was just telling somebody yesterday if if you could actually come up with your best possible acquisition situation and how it's played out, this is this is it.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: It has been um, but even I mean, even post-acquisition, the integration process, you know, when um I'll start with we talked earlier about pairing Alastin with procedures, and that's really how we got to know Galderma.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when they were launching KISS, you know, their fantastic uh Rustalin product for the lips, they wanted to use Enhance along.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: So when they were launching it, we did a partnership with them.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually started doing partnerships back in 2018.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I joke that we we actually kind of had an opportunity to date Galderma before we got married because we did so many partnerships together.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it really what we found is that we had a very similar culture.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um our sales reps got to know each other and partnered really well at the local level and how they decided to approach physician offices together.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: They start doing programs together.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we had already built this beautiful relationship, and then Dr.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Fleming Ornskoff, the uh global CEO of Galderma, has a uh, you know, he's really excited and passionate about this integrated dermatology platform, which is about making sure that Galderma is the leader in all things dermatology.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the way that he looks at that is, you know, there's no, there's no, you know, aesthetic only patient or acne-only patient.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: A consumer is addressing a number of different things in their skin throughout their life cycle, throughout their journey.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that might include, you know, acne or could psoriasis or medical conditions.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have cetophil, you know, for more of the mass market and for so many different sensitive skin types.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then you move into um the aesthetic world with the injectable portfolio with sculpture and restilin and disport.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And and then it just the the missing piece was a premium skincare line.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: We were the only piece missing.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so back in uh you know 2021, he really I think he made a decision that we need to fill out, you know, round out this exciting portfolio that we have.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, if you're gonna bring on a premium, you know, skincare line, it should be the one that partners best with procedures.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so it was just an automatic natural pairing.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and what I what I've been really thrilled about from a personal perspective, and you know, I care so much about the Alastin employees.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to make sure that they were well taken care of.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, Fleming, to his credit, asked before the acquisition, he said, How do I not mess this up?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: He said, How do we make sure that everything you've created with Elastin, we don't screw it up when we buy you?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because so many companies make acquisitions and and they just take it over and they kind of throw away all that knowledge and experience.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we basically said, you know, leave us alone, um, help us out, you know, give us open doors for us, help us with resources, but let us do our thing because it's working.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, and he has.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we grew 54% last year.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: I get shivers when I even say that.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's because uh our reps have really partnered with the uh Restalin and Discord sculpture reps.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: They've partnered very closely to um try to create a more like I said holistic offering um for physicians, and that's really worked.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: We opened up, you know, 1,400 new accounts last year, and like I said, just tremendous growth overall.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: So um what we're doing right now is working.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're also, I think this year you'll see some other exciting uh partnerships when it comes to things like the Aspire program.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as of this year, the loyalty program within Gelda.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: That'll make sense.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the Gelston loyalty program.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: So as you know, effective immediately, all elastin purchases that um an account makes actually count towards their overall aspire status.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: We also have benefits for the patients.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the patients get aspire points as well when they buy elastin.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, and then education is the third area that we're really trying to partner with and take advantage of the incredible platforms that Galderma has built with Gain, which is just an amazing education platform.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna see Elastin, you know, much more integrated into that overall this year, too.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Patty, I had the um opportunity to hear Fleming speak once.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, as a physician, first of all, he's unique leading this global company as a physician, which I think imbues the company with a certain credence with with the you know, and the physicians that they sell to, right?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: That we know that it's led by a physician.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: But my word, it he is so motivational, and I could see Amber just the desire to work with and for him because you know, I I listen to him and I say, gosh, I'd I'd fall off the cliff for this guy.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he tells me something very impressive.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I absolutely could see his his uh you know enthusiasm shining through as well as his ability to work with others uh to lead.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: He really listens.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: He really listens.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm very privileged to actually get to report directly to him.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I um treasure when I do get time with him, which is rare because he's unbelievably busy, but um, you know, he really listens.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: He listens to our our partners, our providers, to us.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I just I can't say just how much I appreciate how much he he really wants to, he's just excited about the growth opportunities and what we can do.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, listen, we don't have much time.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we thank you so much for your time, Amber.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: But you've already mentioned a little bit about skincare trends.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: You said periprocedural, kind of integrative skincare.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that, though, if you you kind of looked into your crystal ball, um, what are you thinking in terms of you know, two, three, four years from now, skincare trends that we need to kind of keep an eye on?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, there's there's a lot.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a lot, but again, I think you know, it needs to be rooted in science, first and foremost.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: But some of the ones that we're excited about, and and we don't, we try not to have a very big line.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things we love with Elastin is we have less than 20 products, right?
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: We we've tried to stay very focused and only launch products that we feel there's a real need for and that we can do it differently, right?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna launch something unless it's really differentiated.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I think some areas that excite me are uh maybe this is uh maybe a little too personal, but you know, I think um there's a real need for skincare focused on menopausal um women, just hormone-based, you know, issues.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think our pigment product uh definitely considers that as well.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that's gonna be an interesting trend over the next few years, a sort of menopausal skincare.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is absolutely a lot of interest and excitement, uh, around procedures.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but there's interest and excitement around regenerative.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: And you've already mentioned that with exosomes, everybody, there's so many companies getting into the regeneration space.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: The problem, though, today is that it's very unpredictable.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so consistency, uh, lack of predictability, that's what's made us a little bit nervous and hesitant.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, Alan is determined to crack the code.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if anybody can't.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say, and he just may do that.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and he's you know, he's really into it because we all see the benefits, you know, of that, you know, opportunity.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I think his in his perfect world, there would actually be a synthetic version of an exosome that you can 100% control and make sure that you're getting because right now, right now, the clinical data that's out there with the exosome products is just not it's not consistent.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what we want to see if we're gonna put something on the market.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: We want our providers to know exactly what they're gonna get and to have that predictability.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's impressive.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, look, we're gonna go ahead and wrap.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: But Amber, this has been so enlightening.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: We're so grateful and honored that you came on with us.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: And we hope everybody's enjoyed this as much as we have.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll see everybody for the next episode of Skin Care Confidential.