In The News: biotech partners with big beauty, fermentation forecasting, packaging production

biotech leader Amyris sells hero ingredient tech to Givaudan Active Beauty, Angel Yeast is investing for the future, and Sundance USA is making beauty packaging faster and smaller

Photo by Jan-Willem on Unsplash

💋🧬💰BIG Beauty Biotech Buy

Today, news broke that Givaudan’s Active Beauty business is acquiring Neossance® Squalane from Amyris. This is the biotech input (an alternative to shark-derived squalane) that put Amyris on the beauty industry map and may well deserve credit for welcoming skincare consumers into the age of biotech beauty.

Neossance® Squalane is the hero ingredient in many of the consumer brands and products Amyris has brought to market. The first of these was The Revitalizer from Biossance, launched DTC in mid-2015. And that product, which comprised 100% Neossance® Squalane, is still on the market today, now known simply as 100% SQUALANE OIL.

Going forward—pending regulatory approvals—this ingredient along with Neossance® Hemisqualane (a biotech alternative to silicone) and the company’s sun care ingredient CleanScreen will belong to Givaudan.

“We are proud to expand our Active Beauty portfolio with these key active cosmetic ingredients Neossance® Squalane, Neossance® Hemisqualane and Cleanscreen coming from our long-standing partner Amyris,” says Markus Rassmann, Head of Active Beauty at Givaudan, in today’s press release about the deal, adding that, “They represent unique added value in answering our customers' expectations for innovative, sustainable and efficient beauty solutions.”

The two companies began working together in 2010, when Soliance (a beauty ingredient maker owned by Givaudan) and Amyris teamed up to manufacture farnesene via fermentation and convert it into squalane.

“Amyris’ ability to design yeast to produce renewable squalane offers a new opportunity for bio-sourced cosmetic ingredients with two distinct value propositions for our customers: sourcing from sustainable material and providing steady supply,” Frederique Lafosse, then General Manager of Soliance told Cosmetics Business at the time. “We believe,” she said, “our alliance with Amyris is an important milestone for the future of renewable cosmetics.” (Lafosse went on to serve as CEO of Soliance for more than 8 years and is now the New Business Development Partner for Active Beauty & Fragrances at Givaudan.)

The partnership deal announced this week will see Amyris continuing to manufacture ingredients for use in Givaudan product formulations. And, “Givaudan will become the commercialization partner for future sustainable beauty ingredients.”

The takeaway: this partnership is, indeed, an important milestone for the future of renewable cosmetics, or as this week’s press release puts it, “Amyris and Givaudan have a significant partnership to leverage the value of Amyris' technology platform for designing, scaling and manufacturing the best performing biofermented ingredients.”

🍞💋Yeast Vitality

One of the world’s top yeast manufacturers, Angel Yeast, is signing partnerships and spending capital to increase production capacity, research capabilities, and market applications.

“Aiming to improve the penetration rate of its products in the downstream markets, including…supplements and cosmetics, Angel is investing in the development of 20 in-house R&D platforms dedicated to yeast resource development, yeast fermentation, nutrition, flavoring and other application technologies and biosynthesis technology,” according to a press release the company shared on Monday.

Product ranges from China-based Angel Yeast have applications in biotech, biochemistry, and bioagriculture. The company makes fermentation nutrients, yeast proteins, yeast extracts, and enzymes. And all of these industries and products have implications in beauty. Fermentation nutrients, for instance, are used to manufacture hyaluronic acid, vitamins, and probiotics.

“Angel's business success is not only built on its technological expertise, but also its robust ability to capture market trends that enables us to stay in tune with the needs of global customers,” says Xiao Minghua, General Manager of Angel, in remarks to the press this week.

“We conduct in-depth research to target market demands, which allows us to identify growth opportunities as we seek innovation to drive our business forward and stay ahead of the competition. With our new strategy, we will continue to expand our global footprint by strengthening cooperation with our partners, leveraging our leadership in yeast manufacturing and global resources to tap into new customer groups,” concludes Xiao Minghua.

📦💋 Smaller Better Boxes

Sundance USA, a commercial printing and packaging company based in Orlando, Florida, has brought in new equipment to provide customers with shorter production times and a wider size range of cartons.

“Like all of our new packaging machinery, this latest installation is advanced, high-speed, and technology driven,” JohnHenry Ruggieri, Sundance USA President, tells the press. “It enables us,” he says, “to offer product marketers and package designers the finest quality packaging delivered much faster and more cost-effectively.”

The company’s new capabilities mean 4x carton production speeds and the ability make boxes for beauty products and supplements in sizes as small as 1.77 x 2.17 inches. And, Sundance’s carton deco offerings span glitter, foil, embossing, debossing, etc.

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