Sequential Skin and J&J link up advancing DNA testing for skin microbiome health

16 Mar 2023 --- Skin microbiome company, Sequential Skin and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) have reached a collaborative agreement to “quantify skin health.” The partnership will enable Sequential Skin to develop new methods of non-invasive genomic-based skin testing, to help Sequential Skin add to its growing database of skin samples.

“This collaboration will give us the opportunity to improve upon our novel technologies at Sequential, to understand further how molecular changes on the skin may translate to skin and human health,” says Oliver Worsley, CEO and co-Founder at Sequential Skin.

Sequential Skin will continue developing next-generation data-driven solutions for the skin microbiome.

Tracking the companies
Around the same time last year, Sequential Skin debuted Sequential Bio, the “first” in vivo microbiome testing for beauty and personal care companies seeking product certification. The testing is available for products targeting skincare, scalp, oral, intimate care and general surfaces. 

“There’s a significant complexity that needs to be taken into account, and our approach does exactly that, with controls to ensure we capture the microbiome diversity and key biomarkers accurately,” Dr. Oliver Worsley, co-founder and CEO at Sequential Bio, previously told PersonalCareInsights.

In related research on the skin microbiome, J&J found that adding lotion to a newborn skincare regimen after washing can “positively affect the microbiome” compared to just washing the baby. As emollients enhance the richness and diversity of the skin microbiome for those with atopic dermatitis, the researchers believed it would have a similar effect in healthy infants when combined with the regimen of baby bath wash.The collaboration lead to new technologies for understanding how how molecular changes on the skin may translate to skin health.

Skin health gains traction
The skin barrier is essential to skincare and goes beyond beauty into skin health. Like any other organ system, the skin microbiome is functionally integrated with physiology and is essential for resilience and health. 

“It protects and nurtures our skin and much more that we have yet to discover. For this reason, we should treat our skin microbiome with the same respect as the body parts we can see and feel,” Larry Weiss, CEO at Symbiome, previously told PersonalCareInsights.

Recently, Kao partnered with Healthcare Systems to launch Babywell Check, the first mail-in testing service using skin surface lipids-RNA monitoring technology to stably store and transport the genetic material collected from infant sebum.

The Babywell Check mail-in testing service affords parents a non-invasive method to collect sebum by applying oil blotting film to the child’s skin. Collecting sebum provides information about the barrier functions of an infant’s skin through sebum RNA data and provides an advantage in determining the appropriate skincare.

“The pandemic has heightened and expanded the focus on health – skin conditions connected to skincare. As a result, consumers have moved away from products like acid peels and more toward products that help the skin microbiome,” Carole Gherardi, market segment leader of Personal Care, Health and Biosciences at IFF, previously told our publication.

According to Aïna Queiroz, head of cosmetic Innovation and Scientific Communication at Seqens, bacteria colonizing our skin makes us holobiont entities – host organisms with their associated microorganisms. “They are just as important as our cutaneous cells and must be cherished to maintain healthy skin.”

By Venya Patel

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