Symrise and Probi explore probiotic ingredient uses for skin
The deal aims to combine the knowhow and expertise of Probi and Symrise, a German-based flavour and fragrance producer, in order to bring out a finished product by the end of this year.
Further terms of the deal will see this product manufactured in the US with Symrise owning the exclusive rights to sell the Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL19 strain to the worldwide cosmetics market.
The strain is expected to appear in a broad range of applications that include dry skin care, atopic prone skin care, baby care, sensitive skin care, body and face care.
“We are focusing our research on Lactobacilli, because they are present in our daily life as well as a part of the human microbiome,” said Imke Meyer, senior global product manager actives at Symrise.
“This specific strain was chosen out of a collection of Probi strains that were screened on specific skin health endpoints, as it combined quite a number of benefits in different in vitro and ex vivo studies.
“Looking into further strains depends on additional learnings we gain from our life science and microbiome R&D platforms. “
A natural fit to beauty
According to Symrise market insight, 79% of consumers believe that the use of probiotics benefits skin health.
Additionally, 63% of consumers think that probiotics form a natural fit to beauty care products with the increasing awareness of the health benefits of probiotics as nutritional supplements cited as the main reason.
“In our joint project, Probi brings extensive know-how about development and production of probiotic bacteria as well as a library of unique bacterial strains,” added Gerhard Schmaus, vice-president global innovation cosmetic ingredients at Symrise, which owns a 51.4% majority stake in Probi.
The nutricosmetic sector
The collaboration is the latest in a series of deals in which the nutricosmetic sector is set to benefit from as the global nutricosmetics market is projected to reach €6.6bn ($7.5bn) by 2024.
Major players in the market include BASF, Lonza Group, Shiseido, Vitabiotics and Royal DSM, which only last week provided financial support backing the efforts of Belgium-based life sciences company S-Biomedic.
S-Biomedic’s research interests include a lead program focusing on acne, a skin disorder in which the distortion of the microbiome is linked to its onset.
While that agreement focused on the Propionibacterium acnes, Symrise’s agreement with Probi intends to work with the Lactobacillus species, a bacterial strain that occurs in dairy products, plants, the gastrointestinal system, and on the skin of humans and animals.
“We have already been able to demonstrate the effect of Lactobacilli on human health in numerous studies,” said Kerstin Holmgren, Probi’s director of production and application development.
“We are now looking forward to seeing how the application of probiotic-based products affects the skin.”
