Ep 153 The Story of Fillers | Per Winlof

Episode 153 hosts Per Winlof (Chief Design Expert of Galderma based in Uppsala, Sweden) Per leads Galderma's global R&D and is responsible for all of their filler portfolio from the past, the present and into the future. Back in 1990 Per was a microbiology student at university in Uppsala. To help supplement his income, he applied for a job at a very small biotech company founded by Dr Bengt Ågerup called 'Q-Med'. Although fillers were already available (as collagen-based products), Per and his team developed a completely new way of manufacturing fillers made out of a sugar-molecule using bacteria. They launched the world's first sugar-based dermal filler in 1996. This new product completely revolutionised the world of facial aesthetics. To this day, approximately 95% of dermal fillers are based on this original technology. Q-Med were acquired by Galderma in 2010 and this podcast celebrates the 25th birthday of the world's first modern filler.  We explore: - Per's background and why he applied for a job at Q-Med? - Who started Q-Med and why? - Who developed the original technology of sugar-based fillers and why they were invented in the first place? - How the idea of facial fillers was conceived? - The key differences between collagen fillers (available in the early 1990's) and the newer sugar-based fillers - How sugar-based fillers are made in the lab? - The advantages of fillers that don't contain animal products - Why fillers come in a 1ml syringe? - What cross-linking is? - The beginnings of the science of filler rheology: how and why the properties of fillers can differ? - Filler integration vs tissue integration - Whether fillers dissolve or not? - The key safety feature of sugar-based fillers: reversibility and the use of dissolving agents - Whether Per gave us any clues about what's coming in the future? 00:00 Introduction  01:03 Meet Our Guest Per Winlof 04:55 Early Days of Filler Development in the 1990s   10:59 Why Bacterial Sources Replaced Animal Derived Materials   18:27 How Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Are Manufactured   26:25 What Cross Linking Means and Why It Matters   33:29 Building a Portfolio of Different Filler Types   41:37 Scaling Production and Growing Global Demand   48:53 What Happens to Filler After Injection   52:09 Understanding Integration Versus Degradation   61:45 Why Longevity Differs Between Patients   68:49 Rheology, Lift and Tissue Movement Explained   76:38 Safety, Reversibility and Role of Hyaluronidase   80:09 Importance of Training and Anatomical Knowledge   86:34 Future Directions and Innovation in Filler Technology ALL IA LINKS & CONTACT INFORMATION