Navigating CBD skin care: Galyna CEO on Farm Bill amendment and innovations

05 Aug 2024 --- As the US Farm Bill faces potential amendments impacting cannabinoids in skin care, Galyna discusses how the regulatory changes could affect the cosmetics industry, highlighting the cannabidiol (CBD) skin care brand’s approach to innovation.

An amendment to the US Farm Bill, which in 2018 legalized the production of hemp, might be brought forward to limit companies’ ability to sell products containing cannabinoids not naturally derived from marijuana. 

Some marijuana companies and trade groups are pushing Congress to close a loophole that allows the production and sale of intoxicating substances derived from legal hemp. On the other side of the coin, CBD product companies are asking lawmakers to keep the federal definition of hemp.

Personal Care Insights speaks with Toby Ripsom, CEO and co-founder of Galyna, launched earlier this year, on how new regulations affect hemp in personal care applications and what developments are being made in the industry.

The House Agriculture Committee Republicans are pushing to put more guardrails around hemp products or prohibit them from having any amount of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), a psychoactive compound found in the plant.

Previously, Connecticut moved to restrict intoxicating hemp products, and Missouri’s Attorney General launched an investigation earlier this year into intoxicating hemp products.

How do regulations on CBD affect market development and innovations?
Ripsom: The business development and scientific discovery lanes are not fully open to hemp just yet. We constantly encounter roadblocks in accessing the best and brightest in service and academic support. Still, we’re working hard to overcome these challenges and find the truth and optimal market access points. Toby Ripsom, CEO and co-founder of Galyna.

What are the primary trends in CBD in the cosmetics industry?
Ripsom: There are a lot of eyes on the Farm Bill as it moves through Congress, with questions about how to better regulate hemp across the country and how hemp and cannabis will play nice in the sandbox with each other. Fortunately for Galyna, we are in the non-intoxicating hemp realm, which is fairly ho-hum in terms of regulation change. But we’re all stakeholders as concerned citizens around safety, labeling and access to goods. As business owners and competitors, everyone deserves a well-run and thoughtfully regulated marketplace. 

What are popular alternative or competing ingredients, and how do these compare to CBD?
Ripsom: Galyna focuses on cannabinoids as a family of potential for skin care and has developed a molecule that expands their lifespan for efficacy while increasing absorption into the skin. For the longest time, cannabinoids had quite a story about being wonder drugs and cure-alls. Many of those early formulations ended up disappointing and not living up to their hype. It turns out it wasn’t the plant’s fault, such offerings just weren’t formulated to maximize the plant’s capabilities. That said, there are many different cannabinoids and CBD (cannabidiol) happens to be the best known after THC, its intoxicating and federally illegal cousin. 

Galyna’s patents and formulations focus on utilizing each cannabinoid and letting their inherent abilities shine through their elongated lifespan and absorption capabilities. Our science points to their efficacy actually enhancing over time. Galyna’s formulations are largely CBD-exclusive for the national market, and we do offer a THC:CBD formulation in select markets via in-state manufacturing partnerships. Traditionally, cannabinoid topicals have focused on pain relief, and while we do have a salve for that (Soothe), our lab research vets out fascinating abilities for collagen production and acne defeat through positive healing (not acids or alcohols), wound healing in general, advanced antimicrobial powers and an overall increase in skin metabolism, helping even out and rejuvenate overall complexion and strength of the skin’s outermost layer. We will have more blends and ratios in the future as we uncover best uses and entourage ingredients in Galyna’s ongoing research. 

What innovations do you offer in this area, and what important aspects do they address?
Ripsom: We have had great success with like-minded individuals and scientific partners who understand the risks and optics of cannabinoids and their lack thereof. These aren’t industry household names, like publicly traded firms that avoid “touching cannabinoids” as corporate policy. However, we know all too many executives inside those houses that take individual stands for or against our work and know who is jealous of what we can nimbly accomplish. Our latest work shows that, if used correctly, cannabinoids can treat many conditions and maladies in personal care with greater efficacy than brands with billions of dollars attributed to decades-old formulations. Galyna formulations are available in two different options: one with just 300mg of CBD and 300mg of THC and CBD.

What opportunities or challenges do you see for the CBD industry? How do you expect the industry to develop?
Ripsom: When I walk down the personal care aisle of the store, I see so many ways cannabinoids could enhance the status quo and do so through plant-based ingredients. It makes me happy for the future.

New laws can change everything, and we support government initiatives to reduce stigma, increase research and investment and finally bring cannabinoids into the mainstream as a plant-based solution from which almost every CPG company and customer could benefit.

How do your products translate to the European market?
Ripsom: While we are based in Colorado, we understand the EU takes a more stringent stand on the quality of science, ingredients, products, sustainability and compliance demanded in labeling, plus overall end-user protections, and we applaud that. Galyna aims to be held to only the highest standards. As such, our patent work extends from the US to the EU, and we look forward to upholding that standard. We all deserve a universal sense of comfort in what we put in or on our bodies. 

By Sabine Waldeck, with additional reporting from Jolanda van Hal