Beiersdorf Goes All In On Belgian Skin Microbiome Company To Drive ‘Future Of Skin Care’

Beiersdorf acquired Belgian life sciences company S-Biomedic NV in December to accelerate its research and development of skin care based on the microbiome. The Nivea marketer made a “single-digit million” euro investment in S-Biomedic four years ago.

Beiersdorf AG is making a significant play to advance its skin microbiome research and development with the acquisition of S-Biomedic NV, a Belgian life sciences company it invested in four years ago.

“Following years of successful cooperation, the collaboration will now become even closer,” Beiersdorf announced on 16 December.

Beiersdorf, which markets the Nivea and Eucerin skin care brands, made an equity investment in S-Biomedic in the “single-digit million” euro range in 2018, targeting “the future of skin care via research into skin microbiota.”

Senior vice president, research and development May Shana stated at the time, “Skin care is on the verge of disruption and will hugely benefit from the dramatic progress in life science research. Microbiome research is one of the most dynamic fields, and we need to deeply look at it for innovative offers for our consumers.”

Other investors in S-Biometic have included Johnson & Johnson’s JLABs life science incubator program, DSM Nutritional Products AG, and early stage investment firm Verve Ventures of Verve Capital Partners AG.

"Together with the pioneers of S-Biomedic we are taking skin care to the next level and will foster the development of solutions for unmet consumer needs.” – Gitta Neufang

Beiersdorf’s own research into the microbiome has yielded microbiome-balancing products from Nivea and Eucerin, including the Eucerin pH5 line for dry, sensitive skin. According to the brand’s international website, products in the line help to restore skin’s optimal pH level and strengthen its natural defenses, “making it more resilient to environmental triggers and reducing sensitivity.”

Since its founding in 2014, S-Biomedic has been focused on skin microbiome technologies to “restore the skin’s healthy balance” in individuals suffering from acne, eczema, psoriasis and other chronic skin conditions. The company’s research involves targeted modulation of the human microbiome, or the naturally occurring community of microorganisms that live on skin, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses.

S-Biomedic says it was the first company to conduct a successful skin microbiome transplantation, in which probiotic solutions were prepared from donor microbiomes and applied to healthy volunteers. The company found after sequential applications, the recipient microbiome became more like the donor microbiome, validating the use of living bacteria to modulate skin microbiome composition.

Cutibacterium acnes, “naturally by far the most abundant bacteria species on healthy skin,” are the basis for the company’s Living Skin Probiotics program, which leverages specific strains of C. acnes for their ability to produce beneficial substances and health effects.

In October, the company launched CutiNaturalis Probiotic, a C. acnes beneficial strain isolated from healthy individuals. “This skin care active helps restore the facial skin microbiome natural balance when it has been altered by external factors. These could be environmental stressors, the use of harsh compounds (e.g. disinfectants), or the use of certain cosmetics (e.g. cleansers),” according to the firm’s website.

The firm also has developed a line of topical products. In early 2022, S-Biomedic launched the Sencyr range of facial serums and cleansers that contain probiotics activated shortly before application “and therefore applied live to the skin.” Sencyr is marketed in Germany and sold elsewhere through the branded website.

“Our Living Skin Probiotics and Postbiotics help the good guys overpower the bad and ‘teach’ our skin to manage various underlying factors that cause conditions like acne, eczema, and rosacea,” S-Biomedica says. “We keep cracking the code on an ever-increasing number of skin microbiome imbalances and ways to nurse the skin back to a balanced natural state.”

According to Verve Ventures, the global acne market is worth $4bn, with about $2bn in cosmetics and $2bn in pharmaceutical drugs. Probiotic skin care product sales are growing about 15% year over year, the firm says.

S-Biomedic will be managed as a standalone entity within Hamburg, Germany-based Beiersdorf’s microbiome program. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Gitta Neufang, senior VP of research and development at Beiersdorf, states, “Together with the pioneers of S-Biomedic we are taking skin care to the next level and will foster the development of solutions for unmet consumer needs.”