Weight loss medicines lead to 'Ozempic face'. A Korean biotech company now has a solution

A South Korean biotech company is preparing to launch an injectable treatment designed to address the facial volume loss commonly referred to as "Ozempic face", betting that demand linked to blockbuster weight-loss drugs will drive its next phase of growth.

According to a report in Bloomberg, L&C Bio said it has developed an injectable skin booster made from donated human fat that is intended to restore lost facial volume. Chief Executive Officer Lee Whan Chul said the company developed the technology around five years ago and holds patents in South Korea, the United States and China.

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Unlike the company's flagship Re2O treatment, which uses donated skin tissue to improve skin quality and reduce wrinkles, the new product processes donated fat into an extracellular matrix that acts as a scaffold. This allows a patient's own fat cells to repopulate treated areas and restore volume naturally.

Lee said the product, tentatively named MegaAdipoECM, is aimed at treating the hollow cheeks and sagging skin associated with GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, while also offering what he described as a biological alternative to silicone breast implants.

Commercialisation had been delayed because South Korean law classified donated fat as medical waste, preventing its reuse. That changed this year after lawmakers legalised the practice. L&C Bio expects to launch the product after a one-year grace period, likely in late 2027.

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Lee said the company had previously explored manufacturing in Singapore or the United States because of regulatory hurdles, but the legal change in South Korea will allow domestic production without additional raw material costs.

The technology is also likely to renew debate over the use of donated human tissue for cosmetic procedures. Critics argue that commercialising donated material could divert scarce resources from burn victims and trauma patients, while Lee said donors explicitly consent to aesthetic use and supported stronger regulations to provide greater clarity.