Green beauty: Ginkgo Bioworks and Sumitomo Chemical unveil fermentation for cosmetics
19 Jul 2022 --- Ginkgo Bioworks, a horizontal platform for cell programming, in partnership with Japan-based chemical company Sumitomo Chemical, will bring a new cell programming project to the cosmetics industry. The target molecule of this project will be implemented in the personal care and cosmetic industries and may replace animal sources.
The collaboration will allow Sumitomo Chemical to generate molecules that are environmentally sustainable and can be used in various products across sectors by utilizing Ginkgo’s extensive codebase and knowledge in organism engineering.
“Fermentation will unlock more sustainable methods of creating existing ingredients, which is better for the planet than relying on weather-related crop harvests, petroleum or animal-based sourcing,” Kevin Madden, SVP platform commercialization at Ginkgo Bioworks, tells PersonalCareInsights.
“In many cases, fermentation results in a much more consumer-friendly end product. Fermentation can also enable the creation of entirely new ingredients and products.”
“The cosmetics industry is demanding more [environmentally] sustainable and cost-competitive beauty and personal care products, as are many others we serve, and we see tremendous potential in synthetic biology’s ability to make this possible at a commercial scale,” says Hiroshi Ueda, executive VP of Sumitomo Chemical.
Through this project, we aim to build our capability on fermentation production with the active involvement of our new organization SynBio Hub, Ueda explains.
“We believe that industry market adoption will be enhanced by using a more appealing, sustainable plant-based fermentation method of production by appealing to a growing base of consumers that value cruelty-free products or products that they deem clean,” adds Madden.
Molecule from fermentation
Ginkgo and Sumitomo Chemical intend to develop products that will significantly benefit consumers by offering an ingredient that is animal-free and more sustainable by creating a strain that will produce the targeted chemical through fermentation.
The collaboration will allow Sumitomo Chemical to generate molecules that are environmentally sustainable and can be used in various products across sectors.“Not only is this project a natural fit for Ginkgo’s platform, but it provides an opportunity to leverage and showcase our growing codebase,” details Patrick Boyle, head of Codebase at Ginkgo.
“Ginkgo has prior experience developing a precursor molecule to the one Sumitomo Chemical is currently targeting. The data and experience Ginkgo has on this precursor molecule has significantly accelerated our current program with Sumitomo Chemical, possibly saving Sumitomo Chemical multiple years off its development timeline.”
This is a new project in addition to the ongoing partnership between the two companies, which started in 2021 and is focused on the bio-based production of a select number of molecules for the expansive Sumitomo Chemical portfolio. The portfolio includes products for personal care and cosmetics, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
The initial collaboration
The two companies previously entered a research and development partnership to create more [environmental] sustainable bio-based chemicals for various industries.
The companies will develop products that will benefit consumers by offering an ingredient that is animal-free.To assist customers from various industries looking to create better products, Ginkgo developed the top horizontal platform for cell programming. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Chemical aimed to improve the production efficiency and sustainability of an essential bio-based commercial product by utilizing Ginkgo’s well-established expertise in organism engineering.
The partnership aimed to substitute petroleum-based products or improve current biology-mediated production processes by engineering microbial strains. Cell programming has advanced to become faster, more accurate and more cost-effective.
Previously, Arcaea, a Ginkgo Bioworks subsidiary and Olaplex, a technology-driven hair health company, collaborated to “change” the hair care sector by developing new ingredients for hair and scalp. The two will use expressive biology – biology as a creative tool for self-expression – to create a regenerative future for the beauty space.
By Nicole Kerr
