Cynosure, a manufacturer of lasers and light sources for medical and aesthetic use, has signed an agreement with Unilever to develop and commercialize light-based devices for home use. The multi-year agreement will focus on the skin rejuvenation segment of the marketplace, which aims to combat age-related wrinkles and lines. Unilever owns a number of popular home skincare brands, including Dove and Ponds. Westford, Mass.-based Cynosure hopes to leverage Unilever’s marketing and distribution capabilities to successfully introduce light-based devices into the home use market. Cynosure’s light-based systems are already used by medical and aesthetic professionals for such procedures as laser hair removal, scar reduction, removal of pigmented and vascular lesions, and skin rejuvenation.
A report published in March by Brocair Partners predicted that the U.S. market for energy-based aesthetic devices will exceed $1 billion by 2011. Companies working in this space include Eleme Medical, Lumenis, Photo Therapeutics, Cutera, and Diomed Holdings.