Darin J. Messina, Ph.D.
Darin J. Messina, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President, Aesthetics R&D at AbbVie. His relevance to the botulinum toxin industry comes from the research-and-development connection between Allergan Aesthetics, neurotoxins, soft-tissue fillers, aesthetic devices, regenerative medicine, and broader aesthetic-medicine technology.
His role is relevant to botulinum toxin coverage because AbbVie describes the aesthetics R&D organization as responsible for facial aesthetics, including neurotoxins and soft-tissue fillers. That context links Botox Cosmetic to a broader Allergan Aesthetics R&D portfolio rather than treating the toxin franchise as an isolated product line.
Role Context
Section titled “Role Context”| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current organization | AbbVie / Allergan Aesthetics |
| Current role | Senior Vice President, Aesthetics R&D |
| Relevant company | AbbVie / Allergan |
| Relevant brands | Botox and Boey |
| Social profile | LinkedIn 🔗 |
Career Notes
Section titled “Career Notes”- Messina leads AbbVie’s aesthetics R&D organization across facial aesthetics, body contouring, plastic surgery and regenerative medicine, and topical skincare.
- AbbVie identifies neurotoxins and soft-tissue fillers as part of the facial-aesthetics scope he leads.
- He joined Allergan in 2010 and held roles of increasing responsibility in medical-device and biologics development.
- His earlier Allergan / AbbVie role included Head of Aesthetic Device R&D.
- Before Allergan, he held roles at Johnson & Johnson, including Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson Internal Ventures, and Centocor.
Boey Development Context
Section titled “Boey Development Context”AbbVie’s July 2026 announcement of European Commission approval for Boey named Messina in his Aesthetics R&D role. This connects the approved trenibotulinumtoxinE product to the same public R&D organization that frames Allergan Aesthetics’ neurotoxin portfolio, without attributing the full development program to one individual.
Activity and Public Context
Section titled “Activity and Public Context”AbbVie’s 2022 profile of Messina frames his career across neuroscience, ophthalmology, and bioengineering and describes his work as part of Allergan Aesthetics R&D. AbbVie’s aesthetics science page also quotes him on the strengthened ability to develop treatment options after Allergan became part of AbbVie in 2020.