Pyratine XR launches, user reviews

Showing just how important the internet is becoming for marketing new cosmetics, Pyratine XR has recently launched with a lot of press activity. As well as Senetek’s press releases on the internet I was also contacted by 2 PR representatives trying to get me to cover the release of this `new’ product. Pyratine XR was launched at the South Beach Dermatology Symposium in Miami on Feb 14 and also on March 6 at the AAD Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

The press release activity is based on an as-yet unpublished study of 18 mild to moderate rosacea over a period of 48 weeks.

So what is the difference between Kinerase, Pyratine-6 and Pyratine XR ? Well firstly they are all expensive over the counter cosmetics. The active ingredient in these products is furfuryl tetrahydropyranyladenine. As cosmetic products none of these can make claims to treat any particular disease.

Kinerase

Kinerase Cream contains 0.1% N6-furfuryladenine.

The ingredients of Kinerase are listed as: purified water, glyceryl stearate and laureth-23, isopropyl palmitate, propylene glycol, stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed oil, soya sterol, stearyl alcohol, dimethicone, imidazolidinyl urea, citric acid, sodium hydroxide, methylparaben, soluble collagen, carbomer, N6-furfuryladenine, panthenol, propylparaben, triethanolamine, ascorbic acid, hydrolyzed elastin, and aloe barbadensis leaf juice.

Pyratine-6

Pyratine 6 contains 0.1% N6-furfuryladenine and is marketed as an anti-aging product and as Senetek’s `second-generation patented cytokinin’

Pyratine XR

Pyratine XR contains 0.125% N6-furfuryladenine and is marketed as a rosacea product once Senetek increased the amount of the active ingredient and initiated the unpublished study mentioned in this article. It looks to me that the Red R in the labelling is also trying to suggest that this product is for rosacea sufferers.

Product Feedback

There is some strong skepticism about Pyratine XR over at the Rosacea Forum

I agree with Melissa:

1. The stuff is ridiculously expensive
2. It went "cosmetic" as to avoid having to conduct rigorous testing
3. It’s claims are yet to be approved by the FDA as far as I could find
4. There are no 3rd party tests of this product, only in house research done by the company
5. In the tests that were done the claim was that it was tested on people with mild to moderate rosacea, but the test data itself remains largely unpublished.
   Further: http://www.dermatology.uci.edu/IID%2…er%20final.pdf
   Are you kidding me? If the two test subjects pictured are the best examples to sell this product then it appears to only work well for those with really, really, really mild Rosacea.
6. I haven’t heard one good thing about Pyratine 6 from a real Rosacea sufferer, it is hard to imagine why this is going to be that much better
7. Spamming Rosacea web boards for business suggests a $ grab
8. I don’t know why this plant derivative substance is significantly different from others that have been around for some time that claim to also be anti-inflammatory and effective on ROS.
   Bottom line, there is no real reason to believe this product will work imo, but the jury is out. Once is comes out, if some reliable people post good results it might be worth a try. I would prefer seeing a large scale 3rd party double blind study on it.

Pyratine XR was due to be launched at the SF AAD Meeting. An interesting post from badhairday gives some insight into what this launch actually meant ;

Hi all,

Thought this would be helpful info re: Pyratine XR. I realize I don’t regularly post but I thought this was important. My sister in-law is a Derm. She attended the National Dermatology Conference in San Francisco this past weekend. I asked her to find this product and try to get me the inside scoop – like all of us I am cautiously hopeful of anything new but also skeptical. Here’s what she found.

The Pyratine XR booth – was a VERY hard to find tiny booth. There were two women representing the product (she said the ladies seemed a little sketchy – not necessarily important info but I trust my sisters judgement ). Just a few before and after pictures of people who had trialed it for 48 weeks – but NO real data on how the product works and the women wouldn’t get into any detail. They would only conditionally commit to give her 6 free samples (enough for the 48 months per patient) BUT the Dr. had to commit to recording results of their patients (data and pictures) through the period of the trial and report back to the company. If the Dr. didn’t want to commit to the following though on data gathering they would need to pay $400 + per patient (for an 48 month trial). This product will be sold over the counter only in physician offices (no pharmacies). My sister-in-law was concerned that this company was trying to solicit Doctors to do the research for them for free rather than setting up an actual study where patients are paid. Further she was sceptical that they wouldn’t give any free samples (it is $150 per tube!)

She reported that b/c it’s over the counter it doesn’t have to go though any "real" testing (a lot easier to get approved). Just need to prove that it doesn’t harm anyone. It seems to be a glorified anti aging product with natural plant exact ingredients which probably will be ok for many of us to use as most of the ingredients looked fairly benign. But it’s hard to say if it will have any effect on rosacea at this point. Her recommendation was to wait a year and not spend the money as it didn’t look promising enough and it didn’t have enough to back it up that would make it a worth while product at this point. Sorry to burst any bubbles – and again what doesn’t work for one may work for another and obviously a few people on this sight have had some luck. The product representation just seemed a little sketchy for me.

Good luck all – hope this helps a few of us to save a few bucks and… Jen

Paula Begoun has this to say about Kinetin.

Kinetin is a plant-growth hormone, and its technical name is N6-furfuryladenine. What makes kinetin interesting are the in vitro and animal studies demonstrating its effect as a growth factor.

…

I suspect that when it’s applied topically, kinetin isn’t of much use to the skin cell, and even if it could be utilized, there probably isn’t enough kinetin in any product to have a negative or positive impact but that is only a guess, no one knows for sure (Source: Dermatologic Clinics, October 2000, pages 609-615).

User Reviews & Feedback

As Pyratine XR has only recently launched there aren’t many testimonials available yet. Here are some thoughts from users of the related product Pyratine 6.

From DukeCity; I still am using the creme and think it’s the best moisturizer I’ve ever had, as far as toning down redness it’s so subjective, as I’ve had multiple IPL/Laser TX and am taking Oracea daily. But it is the only topical I’ve been using since last Feb./March. I will definitly be buying the Pyratine/RX as soon as it comes to public sale…

From dallascowgirl; On March 14, 2009, I will have completed a year using Pyratine- 6 lotion. (I tried the cream but it made my skin break out.) I still like it as much as ever– the first moisterizer I’ve ever been able to use. In this year, I have only used two 2.5 oz. tubes. I use a pea size glop twice a day while my face is slightly damp. I have had acne rosacea since I was 13 years old. Today, I have no breakout and my face skin is smooth, a little pink on my chin. Though it is expensive, I think I’ve actually saved money this year from not running out and buying the newest cream every month. Will I try the the new one? I really haven’t decided yet.

From sophie; I started using Pyratine last sept or oct, and loved my skin more after only a week or two. There has been a SMALL reduction in P&Ps [I still have them]. Likewise a SMALL reduction in redness [I'm still red]. The BIG difference was in the overall smoothness of my skin. Its still rougher than your average persons, but I’m quite sure that its the smoothest its been since pre-puberty [I'm now 33]. Funnily enough, I wonder whether my spider veins are now more defined now cause my skin is clearer. The other downside is that prolonged use hasn’t made my skin any better i.e. the almost immediate improvement has remained but not increased.

Over to You

So now that you have read all this background information, do you plan on trying Pyratine XR ?

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