Emil Chynn MD Promises Longer, Thicker Eyelashes

Jan. 22, 2009 - PRLog -- Allergan has just announced the launch of its exciting new product Latisse, for stimulating eyelash growth.  Latisse is the brand name for the drug bimatoprost, which is marketed by Allergan under the name Lumigan for the treatment of glaucoma.

“This is an interesting product extension by the same company (Allergan) that owns Botox,” says ophthalmologist Emil William Chynn, MD, MBA, the owner of Park Avenue Laser Vision in New York City (http://www.ParkAvenueLaser.com).  “Many people do not know that Botox was used for decades by eye surgeons to treat twitching lids and crossed eyes, before Allergan helped popularize its use for cosmetic indications.  Now, cosmetic sales of Botox vastly exceed those for strictly medical uses.”

“The history of Latisse is interesting, as it points to how serendipitous observations by clinicians can often lead to new ‘blockbuster drugs’ Dr. Chynn reflects.  “I remember many years ago, I was started an older gentleman with glaucoma in one eye on Lumigan.  He came back a few months later with his pressure well-controlled, and I was about to discharge him, and he said, ‘hey doc, my lashes grew so long in this eye, I had to cut them because they were hitting my glasses!’”

A smart glaucoma specialist, Dr. Murray Johnstone, obtained a use patent for the use of prostaglandins such as Lumigan for both lash and hair growth.  Well, Murray was shopping his patent around for years, but the beauty companies didn’t want to get involved in FDA trials, and the pharmaceutical companies didn’t want to get into consumer products.  Fortunately, finally a company like Allergan with expertise in both areas recognized the market potential for this exciting new product.”

“Over the past 5 years, I conducted a pilot study at Park Avenue Laser Vision (http://www.ParkAvenueLaser.com) with about thirty female patients who wanted longer lashes, before Latisse launched.   I asked them to bring in two tubes of their mascara, and added Lumigan to one tube, and placebo to the other and labeled one tube ‘right’ and one ‘left.’  We asked them to use this mascara regularly, once in the morning.  50% of patients exhibited significantly thicker, longer, and darker lashes, 30% had moderate improvement, and 20% had minimal or no difference.  So, in summary, 80% of my patients had noticeably ‘lusher’ lashes!”

“One of my patients, Anna G., my former laser technician, is a natural blonde, and so had very light-colored lashes.  After two months of intermittent use, she said her friends thought she was wearing mascara when she wasn’t!  Right now, nearly my entire female staff are using our special formulation,” Dr. Chynn remarks.

“The only barrier I can envision to this becoming the next blockbuster drug like Botox for Allergan is the price point.  Allergan wants to charge women $120 per month, which works out to nearly $1500 per year, which is a lot for better eyelashes.  Also, since Latisse is just a re-brand of Lumigan, what’s to prevent women from coming to my office for an annual eye exam, and getting a prescription for Lumigan, instead?  Both the eye exam and the prescription would be covered by their medical insurance, so they would at most have to pay a co-pay of say $20 each.  Especially in this economy, it’s a lot easier to imagine women doing this instead, as their annual expense for longer, thicker, lusher lashes would be only a few hundred—not thousand—dollars per year.”

Dr. Chynn is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and received his MD from Columbia University.  He completed his ophthalmology residency at Harvard University, and his Fellowship in Refractive Surgery at Emory University.  He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and MENSA, the “genius” organization.  Dr. Chynn has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the International Herald Tribune, among other publications.  Dr. Chynn has authored hundreds of articles on refractive surgery, holds several US Patents, and was the first LASIK surgeon in NYC to have the procedure himself.

Visit his website, http://www.ParkAvenueLaser.com or contact him at (212) 741-8628, or dr@ParkAvenueLaser.com.

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