The Swiss pureplay skin care and injectable aesthetics company has seen 9.2% growth over the past nine months, which includes success in the difficult Chinese market…
In its third quarter financial results update, Galderma said that it has achieved record net sales of $3.26bn, mainly “driven by volume growth and complemented by favourable mix.”
The growth spanned across all product categories and geographies, with the strongest growth in Injectable Aesthetics and Dermatological Skincare.
The firm said much of these sales (59%) had come from its ‘international reporting area’, which encompasses all markets except the US.
It highlighted that “China continued its strong trajectory across both Injectable Aesthetics and Dermatological Skincare”, which is noteworthy considering many other beauty players have been struggling in this market.
Many competitors have also noted drops in the once thriving US derma skin care market and while Galderma still saw growth in this region, it highlighted that there was “more cautious consumer consumption in the Dermatological Skincare market segment” here.
Setting the stage for further growth
CEO Flemming Ørnskov, M.D., MPH said that the company had been executing on its “unique Integrated Dermatology Strategy”, which explained why it has continued with its strong growth trajectory,
“The exciting progress with our late-stage pipeline with key regulatory approvals and differentiated innovations positions Galderma for continued strong growth.,” he continued.
“Combined with our high-performing commercial execution and increasing penetration in existing and new key markets, this sets the stage for further growth acceleration and value creation.”
The business offers a broad portfolio of dermo-cosmetics, dermatologic drugs, and hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers, neuromodulators and biostimulators.
In terms of its Dermatological Skincare category for the first nine months of the year, net sales reached 990 million USD, which was year-on-year growth of 10.6% that was driven by its Cetaphil and Alastin brands.
Medical breakthroughs & partnerships with L’Oréal
With its crossover of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, the company has a heavy focus on medical research. At the 33rd European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress this year, it presented 30 abstracts featuring data on prurigo nodularis, atopic dermatitis, sensitive skin and acne.
In August 2024 it announced a “memorandum of understanding” with beauty multinational L’Oréal to work towards a new research and development collaboration.
Galderma said that the partnership would “focus on complementary research projects aimed at developing advanced, future-proof technologies with direct applications in dermatology.”
L’Oréal group also recently became a shareholder, taking a 10% stake in Galderma, following an agreement between Sunshine SwissCo AG (a consortium led by EQT), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd.
L’Oréal’s CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said the move marked “an ambitious step for L’Oréal” that “allows us to explore partnering in the fast-growing aesthetics market, a key adjacency to our own pure beauty play.”
In recent years, L’Oréal has heavily invested in beauty technology and has become a pioneer in this area. Its approach has been to blend diagnostic tools, topical products, consumer devices, and aesthetic treatments correct, repair, prevent, anticipate, and intercept the signs of skin ageing.