BRAIN expands its IP portfolio to include bioactive anti-skin aging cosmetics ingredient
The biotechnology company BRAIN AG has today announced the expansion of its IP portfolio to include the MMPI (matrix metallo-proteinase inhibitor) peptide.
Following the acquisition of the Ludwigstadt-based cosmetics manufac-turer, LA Schmitt, and the strategic partnership with MONTEIL Cosmet-ics International GmbH, announced in early 2012, this expansion of BRAIN’s IP portfolio now is proof of the company’s consistent pursu-ance of its goal to broaden the value chain in the cosmetics market. Against this backdrop, bioactive compounds for high-tech products will remain a focus for BRAIN in future, as well.
Above and beyond the development and production of bioactive sub-stances from BRAIN’s own innovation pipeline, the company’s stated objective is to also license additional high-quality bioactive substances from third parties and to integrate them in the BRAIN group of affiliated companies.
MMPI – a natural bioactive substance to combat skin aging
One common cosmetic problem is the so-called “photoaging” of the skin, which is caused by repeated sun exposure and results in the ap-pearance of wrinkles even at low amounts of UV radiation. At the mo-lecular level, the wrinkles are caused by an increased reduction of skin collagen. This, in turn, is mainly caused by the MMP-1 (matrix metallo-proteinase 1) enzyme, which is released in the skin by sunlight and then proceeds to break down the skin’s collagen.
Scientific studies have shown that inhibition of the MMP-1 enzyme re-duced the accelerated collagen breakdown in the skin. This is exactly where BRAIN’s MMPI compound comes in. Cosmetic products such as, e.g., sunscreens or day creams containing MMPI as an anti-aging mode of action are already exclusively and successfully sold by the BRAIN group of affiliated companies.
Complex production process
Only a few biotechnology companies have the expertise and infrastruc-tural resources at their disposal to be able to handle such a complex manufacturing process. The biotechnological production process ne-cessitates a large number of costly analytic techniques in fermentation and purification alike. For this reason, the bioactive MMPI is exclusively used in the premium price segment.
BRAIN’s IP platform expanded
“Going forward, the expansion of BRAIN’s active substance platform by the recombinant human cosmetic ingredient MMPI will put us in an even better position to optimize our high-tech cosmetics in an efficient manner,“ states Dr Martin Langer, Head of Corporate Development at BRAIN AG. “BRAIN’s own development of ingredients from our ‘toolbox of nature’ will be increasingly complemented by selected product li-censing in future.”
