Bocouture units and incobotulinumtoxinA
The Merz preparation, free of complexing proteins and licensed in the UK for upper facial lines — supplied in 50 and 100 unit vials with its own unit system.
Bocouture is the Merz preparation of botulinum toxin type A, international non-proprietary name incobotulinumtoxinA. In the UK it is supplied as a powder for solution for injection in 50 unit and 100 unit vials.
What distinguishes it
Bocouture is formulated without complexing proteins. Where other preparations deliver the neurotoxin together with the accessory proteins produced alongside it in the bacterial culture, this one is purified to the neurotoxin itself.
The argument made for that formulation concerns immunogenicity: fewer foreign proteins presented to the immune system, in principle a lower likelihood of developing neutralising antibodies over repeated treatment. Secondary non-response — a patient who responded initially ceasing to respond — is a documented phenomenon across the product class, and case series describe it occurring across multiple sites and products.
Whether the formulation difference translates into a clinically meaningful difference in resistance over a treatment lifetime is a question the literature has not closed.
Its licensed indication
The UK licence covers the temporary improvement in the appearance of upper facial lines in adults below 65 years, where the severity of those lines has an important psychological impact for the patient. The precise wording, and the areas it covers, are in the SmPC.
Units
Bocouture units are specific to Bocouture. They are not interchangeable with Allergan Units, Speywood units, or the units of any other preparation.
Dose, injection points, reconstitution
Specified by the manufacturer in the Summary of Product Characteristics. Both vial sizes have their own SmPC, linked below; this page does not reproduce their contents.
This page is a reference note. It carries no dose, no injection points and no dilution figures: those are set by the manufacturer and published in the Summary of Product Characteristics, which is linked below. This site sells nothing and is not a clinic.
