Skinvisible Offers Eight-Hour Photostable Avobenzone Sunscreen
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Skinvisible Pharmaceuticals is in discussions with potential licensees interested in marketing avobenzone-based sunscreen products with eight hours of photostability. Although a popular choice for providing UVA protection, avobenzone typically degrades in sunlight in less than two hours, the firm says.
Research and development firm Skinvisible Pharmaceuticals enhances its offering of avobenzone-based sunscreen formulas with newly patented technology that provides photostability for eight hours – four times as long as competing formulas, the company says.
Currently, Skinvisible offers three sunscreen formulas – with SPFs 15, 30 and 50 – all built around the company’s proprietary Invisicare delivery system, designed to hold active ingredients on the skin for longer periods of time, resisting both rinsing and perspiration, according to the Las Vegas-based firm.
A combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers, Invisicare can control the release of actives, reduce irritation and eliminate costly manufacturing processes, Skinvisible says.
In addition to sunscreens, Invisicare can be used in moisturizers, acne treatments and hand sanitizers.
Skinvisible’s latest innovation “adds a distinctive new category of Invisicare to [our] portfolio, one which adds the benefit of photostability to sunscreen formulations and other future developments,” it says.
The firm notes that “although avobenzone is recognized as the best sun absorber in the U.S. providing UVA protection, it is known to degrade in sunlight in less than two hours, resulting in less skin protection over time.”
Skinvisible now offers eight hours of sunscreen photostability with its patent-protected technology. The company specializes in licensing its proprietary formulations – about 40 – to cosmeceutical, drug and consumer goods manufacturers.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent for Skinvisible’s sunscreen composition that covers the technology until November 2029, according to the company’s March 7 release.
Contending In The UV Filter Fray
In an interview, Skinvisible Business Development and Marketing VP Doreen McMorran said some filters “have more than two hours of protection, but I don't know of any that provide eight hours of photostability.”
Competition in the UV filter market is intense, and technologies that could give a firm a leg up are coveted and fiercely protected. Meanwhile, avobenzone’s instability when exposed to UV radiation is a widely recognized shortcoming of the sunscreen active. L'Oreal SA filed suits against Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. Inc. in January, claiming the defendants market products under their Neutrogena and Coppertone brands, respectively, that infringe L’Oreal patents related to avobenzone stabilization (Also see "L’Oreal Sues Competitors J&J, Merck For Sunscreen Patent Infringement" - HBW Insight, 6 Feb, 2012.).
Skinvisible is “in discussions” on licensing agreements for its newly patented technology, according to McMorran.
The company does not estimate a revenue impact from the new composition’s launch, but President and CEO Terry Howlett said the size of the sunscreen market bodes well for sales.
“With global sales in sun care reaching $1.7 billion in 2010 and North America accounting for 21% of that market, the value of this patented asset is tremendous,” Howlett states in the release.
Skinvisible's avobenzone sunscreens meet requirements in FDA's June 2011 final rule on sunscreens and can be labeled as having “broad spectrum” protection (Also see "FDA Strengthens Sunscreen Testing And Label Requirements" - HBW Insight, 20 Jun, 2011.).
The rule says companies can only make “broad spectrum” claims if they can demonstrate their product protects against UVA and UVB rays in proportion and has a critical wavelength equal to or greater than 370 nm.
Effective in June 2012, the rule requires products that fail broad-spectrum tests or have an SPF less than 15 to be marketed with a warning that they have not been shown to prevent cancer or early skin aging.
Some sunscreen manufacturers are touting their formulas as meeting those guidelines. Ingredient supplier Croda is promoting its Solaveil XT-40W sun-care active as one of multiple solutions in its portfolio that meet criteria under FDA's rule (Also see "Croda Plugs Offerings As Solutions To Challenges Of Sunscreen Rule" - HBW Insight, 12 Dec, 2011.).