Hyacorp
A gel for large-volume body use The MLF1 and MLF2 products are the body range.
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Hyacorp vs Sculptra
Hyacorp is a hyaluronic acid gel, and it adds volume the day it goes in. Sculptra is poly-L-lactic acid, and it builds your own collagen over months. Sculptra is FDA approved in the US for facial use. Hyacorp is not FDA approved here, and no trial has ever compared the two.
At a glance
| The difference | Hyacorp | Sculptra |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A gel for large-volume body use | A collagen biostimulator, not a gel |
| What it is used for | Body contouring: buttocks, hips, calves | Facial volume and wrinkles |
| What has been published | No US evidence file to read | Tested on the face, not the body |
Sculptra
Side by side
The differences that matter
What it is
Hyacorp
A gel for large-volume body use
The MLF1 and MLF2 products are the body range.
Sculptra
A collagen biostimulator, not a gel
Dried PLLA particles are mixed with sterile water just before they are injected.
How it works, illustrated
Sculptra
What it is used for
Hyacorp
Body contouring: buttocks, hips, calves
That is what the maker markets it for. It is sold in Europe and other places that accept CE marking.
Sculptra
Facial volume and wrinkles
PLLA is also injected on the body. That use is off-label, which is legal and routine.
How long before you see anything
Hyacorp
Straight away
A gel takes up space, so the volume is there as soon as it is injected.
Sculptra
Weeks to months
Nothing looks fuller on the day. Collagen forms around the particles over the next few months. That is why it is called a biostimulator rather than a filler.
Can it be dissolved
Hyacorp
Yes — hyaluronidase breaks it down
Being hyaluronic acid is its real advantage.
Sculptra
No, and no reversal agent is approved
Hyaluronidase has nothing to act on in poly-L-lactic acid. If you do not like the result, the options are time, saline injections to break it up, steroid injections, and rarely surgery.
What has been published
Hyacorp
No US evidence file to read
No US application was made, so there is no FDA summary of safety and effectiveness for this product.
Sculptra
Tested on the face, not the body
In one trial of 149 people, 71% of treated cheeks improved at 12 months, against 26% of untreated cheeks. Body use has real-world safety data but no registration trial.
Where you can get it
Hyacorp
Only where it is a registered product
A US clinic offering it is injecting something the FDA has never reviewed.
Sculptra
Any US clinic
It is an approved product in the United States.
The at-home or drugstore version
Hyacorp
There is no home version
Hyaluronic acid serums and lip plumpers are a different thing wearing the same name. A serum sits on the surface. A gel has to go under the skin to take up space, and nothing you rub on can get there.
Sculptra
There is no home version
Collagen creams and supplements are sold as the cheap swap. Sculptra works because particles sit deep in the tissue, where the body reacts and lays down collagen. A cream never reaches that depth.
Who tends to be happy with it
Hyacorp
- Best for — People who want body volume on the day, and who value being able to have it dissolved.
- The mindset — A gel that can be removed.
Sculptra
- Best for — People who want facial volume built slowly, and accept that it cannot be undone.
- The mindset — A course of sessions, judged at three months.
Which one can be undone
Hyacorp
Hyacorp can be dissolved. It is hyaluronic acid. The enzyme hyaluronidase breaks it down. Sculptra cannot be dissolved. That enzyme has nothing to act on in poly-L-lactic acid.
The fine print
Hyacorp
Hyacorp is made by BioScience GmbH in Germany and marketed in Europe and other territories that accept CE marking, for body contouring of the buttocks, hips, calves and pectorals. It has no US FDA approval and no US FDA clearance, because no US application was made, so there is no FDA summary of safety and effectiveness to read. The 2023 Sculptra cheek trial randomised 149 people at 13 US sites against no treatment.
Sculptra
Sculptra is poly-L-lactic acid, made by Galderma. It went through the FDA premarket approval route as PMA P030050. The original 2004 approval covered "restoration and/or correction of the signs of facial fat loss (lipoatrophy) in people with or receiving treatment for human immunodeficiency virus." Cosmetic uses came later: 2009 for nasolabial folds and other facial wrinkles, and 2023 for fine lines and wrinkles in the cheek region. All of those are facial, so body use is off-label. The freeze-dried particles are reconstituted with sterile water before injection.
More photographs
Sculptra
Conditions treated
Sculptra
Wrinkles and Fine Lines
A collagen-stimulating injectable given as a course, usually three sessions. Nothing looks different straight away; volume builds gradually over several months and lasts around two years. It suits overall thinning and flatness rather than a single line, and it cannot be dissolved, so it is a slower and less reversible decision than filler.
Related topic illustrations
Sculptra
Radiesse
Moderate evidence. The other common biostimulator. It adds volume the same day as well as building collagen, and typically lasts about 12 to 18 months rather than two years. Also not reversible.
Compare the total cost
Hyacorp
Establish the exact HYAcorp product, intended body site and local regulatory status before discussing price. A lower quote does not resolve a question about an unapproved use.
Sculptra
Ask for the exact Sculptra treatment site, amount and full course cost. Do not treat a face-filler quote as equivalent to a body-contouring quote.
Common questions
Questions Patients Ask
Is Hyacorp FDA approved?
No. Hyacorp holds no US FDA approval and no US FDA clearance. It is made by BioScience GmbH in Germany and marketed in Europe and other territories that accept CE marking, for body contouring of the buttocks, hips, calves and pectorals. Sculptra, by contrast, is approved in the US through the premarket approval route as PMA P030050.
Which one can be dissolved?
Hyacorp. It is a hyaluronic acid gel, and hyaluronidase breaks hyaluronic acid down. Sculptra is poly-L-lactic acid, which hyaluronidase does not touch, and no reversal agent is approved for it. If a Sculptra result is unwanted, the realistic options are time, saline injection with mechanical disruption, steroid injection and rarely surgery.
Is Sculptra approved for the body?
No. Sculptra's FDA approvals are facial: facial fat loss in people with or receiving treatment for HIV in 2004, nasolabial folds and other facial wrinkles in 2009, and fine lines and wrinkles in the cheek region in 2023. Injecting it elsewhere on the body is off-label, which is legal and routine, but it means the body use was not what the FDA reviewed.
Which works faster?
Hyacorp, by design. A hyaluronic acid gel takes up space, so volume appears as soon as it is injected. Sculptra works by prompting your own collagen to form around the particles, which takes weeks to months, so there is nothing to see on the day.
Has anyone compared them directly?
No trial has compared Hyacorp with Sculptra, and none has compared a body hyaluronic acid filler with a collagen biostimulator. Because Hyacorp never went through a US approval process, there is also no FDA summary of safety and effectiveness for it to set against Sculptra's.
What does the FDA say about fillers for body contouring?
It advises against them. The FDA "recommends against using dermal fillers or any injectable filler for body contouring and enhancement," naming breast augmentation, increasing the size of the buttocks and increasing fullness of the feet. That statement applies to any injectable filler used for those purposes, whether or not the product is approved for something else.
Safety to keep in mind
The FDA recommends against using any injectable filler for body contouring, including the breasts, the buttocks and the feet. That applies to any filler used that way.
It does not mean the product was tested and rejected. It means no application was made. No US regulator has looked at it.
There is no evidence file to read. Approved fillers come with a public summary of safety and effectiveness. It sets out how many people were studied, what was measured and what went wrong. There is nothing like that here.
There is also no approved use. With Sculptra you can read what it was approved to treat, then see how far a proposed treatment sits from that. And products that reach US clinics outside the approval system come through channels the FDA does not inspect.
None of this is an accusation. It is the boundary of what can be checked.
This matters most in an emergency. If filler blocks an artery, dissolving hyaluronic acid is the standard response. There is no equal step for a biostimulator. That is why prevention and injector skill carry more weight with Sculptra.
Body work uses far more material than facial work. Volume is a risk in itself. That is part of why the FDA advises against injectable fillers for the buttocks and the breasts, whether the filler is approved or not.
A gel and a biostimulator are not two versions of the same choice. If you want a visible shape change on the day, a collagen stimulator will disappoint. If you want fullness that builds slowly, a gel is doing something else. Work out which problem you have first.