Probiotic cosmetic ingredients focus of new Symrise, Probi partnership

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Symrise (Holzminden, Germany), supplier of fragrances, flavors, food, and cosmetic ingredients, is partnering with Swedish bioengineering company Probi (Lund, Sweden) to develop probiotic-based cosmetic ingredients. The companies say that a joint team of researchers is now developing such ingredients for topical applications suited for sensitive and dry skin.

Symrise brings its expertise manufacturing cosmetic raw materials with functional benefits to the partnership, while Probi’s expertise lies in probiotic health ingredients with strong clinical documentation, the companies say.

“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, and Symrise adds the expertise of its cellular, molecular and microbiologists as well as cosmetic formulation know-how,” said Gerhard Schmaus, vice president of global innovation, cosmetic ingredients, Symrise, in a press release. “We are convinced that this interdisciplinary collaboration will result in innovative cosmetic ingredients with many benefits, especially for sensitive skin.”

Currently, the researchers are said to be focusing on the bacterial genus Lactobacillus. “We have already been able to demonstrate the effect of lactobacilli on human health in numerous studies,” said Kerstin Holmgren, one of the lead researchers, in the press release. “We are now looking forward to seeing how the application of probiotic-based products affects the skin.”

“From several bacterial strains, Probi’s Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL19 proved to be the most suitable to strengthen the skin barrier,” added Imke Meyer, senior global product manager, actives, at Symrise. “We are now working to make a product based on this specific Lactobacillus strain available for use in cosmetics.”