The European Commission has approved Boey (trenibotulinumtoxinE), a botulinum neurotoxin serotype E developed by Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) company, for the temporary improvement of moderate to severe glabellar lines in adults whose frown lines carry meaningful psychological impact. The company describes it as the first rapid-onset, short-duration neurotoxin authorized in the European Economic Area, distinguishing it from the longer-acting serotype A products that have dominated the facial injectable market for two decades.
Boey is administered as a 700-unit total dose targeting the corrugator and procerus muscles. Its serotype E mechanism cleaves SNAP-25 at a distinct site from serotype A toxins, and the light chain’s shorter intracellular half-life produces a faster but more transient effect—onset within roughly eight hours and resolution within two to three weeks, compared with the three-to-four-month duration typical of serotype A neurotoxins such as AbbVie’s own onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox Cosmetic).
Approval rests on two Phase III trials, M21-500 and M21-508, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies enrolling 725 adults with moderate to severe glabellar lines. The co-primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving at least a two-grade improvement from baseline on the four-point Facial Wrinkle Scale at maximum frown, assessed separately by investigators and patients at Day 7 in an intent-to-treat population with baseline scores of 50 or below. Peak effect occurred at Day 7 in both studies, with lines returning to baseline severity by two to three weeks. Reported adverse reactions—eyelid ptosis, brow ptosis, and lateral eyebrow elevation (Mephisto sign)—each occurred in well under 1% of treated subjects.