Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Nanomanufacturing Center have developed a skin cream based in part on botulinium toxin, which, according to the patent application recently submitted to the US government, could be administered topically or as a transdermal patch.

It had been thought that Botox could not pass through the skin. But the researchers have discovered that the toxin passes through with ease if it is attached to a nanoparticle in an emulsion.

The nanoemulsion also keeps the toxin stable, they claim, giving the cream a possible shelf life of up to 2 years.

Read the full patent application.

[Source: University of Massachusetts Lowell Nanomanufacturing Center/US Patent Office]