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Novel Preservatives in Cosmetics
Hi all,
I was wondering whether anyone had done any reading into next-gen preservatives that could be used in the cosmetics/personal care industry? Furthermore, have any companies recently started selling novel antimicrobials and do they come close to the likes of Geoguard?
I’d love to hear any insights people may have on the topic!
Best,
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7 Replies
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Geogards are hardly benchmarks.
Two major companies, Lanxess and Arxada, have respectively acquired multiple former preservative development companies with the nominal objective of novel development.
It really takes companies of size to address adequately efficacy, (most importantly) safety and regulatory demands (e.g. EU cosmetic directive) of novel development.
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Cheers Phil, out of curiosity do you have any named examples of companies that were acquired by these major companies? Moreover, are you aware of any new chemical classes with potential as antimicrobials.
Thanks again for your insight! -
Sure - Schulke, (former Dow) Microbial Control, Lonza, Emerald Kamala.
To new classes - no. For perspective, a major effort was mounted a 4 or 5 years back organized by Green Chemical and Commerce Counsel (“3G”) and funded by the major companies - P&G, Unilever, etc. to find new preservatives. It was a complete bust - nothing identified worked. Here’s the very political report observing how well industry played together, completely ignoring the total failure of the effort.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352554120305696I was contracted couple of years backas technical review by a major company for submissions responding to a similar search. Again nothing new of substance.
Development of novel solutions/chemicals clearly need critical financial and technical mass not found in academic and startup entities.
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Wow! Not very promising at all! What about looking in adjacent industries such as Food preservatives? What do you see as the best strategy going forward to innovate in this space?
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Foods? Weak materials with a lower bare of efficacy and regulatory and safety bars even greater.
The best - maybe only - Lanxess and prob more so Arxada.
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Thanks for the replies Phil. Really appreciate it
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You have to remember, pretty much all food is meant to be thrown out after a week or maybe a little longer.
Cosmetics are meant to last at least a year, maybe longer. They require better preservatives.
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