Botox is a neuromodulator that is widely known as the treatment for facial wrinkles. It has name recognition as it was the first on the market over 20 years ago. Since that time, other companies have developed similar neuromodulators that compete with the Botox brand.
Xeomin hit the market in 2010. Xeomin uses the same neurotoxin as Botox but has eliminated any additional proteins and preservatives from its formulation.
There are many similarities between Xeomin and Botox. Both work as muscle relaxers in the treatment of wrinkle reduction and both treatments last up to 12 weeks.
Xeomin and Botox use the same neurotoxin onabotulinumtoxinA.
All the neurotoxin brands other than Xeomin add accessory proteins that act as a preservative. These accessory proteins can trigger the body to make antibodies which can reduce the overall effectiveness of the treatment. This can result in the treatment not lasting as long or not even working at all.
Xeomin has eliminated accessory proteins and is pure onabotulinumtoxinA. This eliminates the potential antibody trigger that can lead to treatment resistance. Since the accessory proteins are not present in Xeomin, the body doesn’t need to take the time to break them down before the neurotoxin can take effect. This may allow the wrinkle relaxing effects of the treatment to be seen earlier than a Botox treatment. Botox can take up to two weeks before taking effect Whereas Xeomin starts working as early as 5 days after treatment.