Beiersdorf AG announced that it has acquired a majority stake in S-Biomedic NV, Belgium, a life-science company and frontrunner in the field of skin microbiome research. Beiersdorf recognized the potential of the skin microbiome for skin care early on and invested in S-Biomedic already in 2018 as part of its corporate venture capital activities.
Following years of successful cooperation, the collaboration will now become even closer. S-Biomedic will continue to be managed as a standalone entity under Beiersdorf’s existing microbiome program and will complement the company’s own research activities in this field. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
In the last few years, microbiome research has become one of the spotlight topics in science and offers unique starting points for break-through skin care innovations. The microbiome of the skin is a habitat of billions of bacteria and an essential factor for skin health. Maintaining a healthy skin microbiome is important because – if out of balance – it can trigger skin diseases like acne. Founded by Veronika Oudova and Bernhard Paetzold in 2014, S-Biomedic researches the delicate balance of the skin’s microbiome and develops active ingredients for cosmetic products by making use of living skin bacteria.
“As skin care experts, research has been at the heart of what we have been doing for 140 years. Therefore, the acquisition of S-Biomedic is an ideal strategic fit to drive our innovation power even further in line with our C.A.R.E.+ strategy. Together with the pioneers of S-Biomedic we are taking skin care to the next level and will foster the development of solutions for unmet consumer needs,” emphasizes Dr. Gitta Neufang, Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Beiersdorf.
“We are pleased to welcome S-Biomedic and its dedicated team to the Beiersdorf Group to join forces in this dynamic and highly promising research area. The advances of S-Biomedic in biomedical research complement our own efforts in this field and open the door to develop products that work in harmony with the natural skin processes,” adds Jörn Hendrik Reuter, Manager Microbiome Accelerator at Beiersdorf.
“Our vision since 2014 when we started S-Biomedic has been to build and promote skin microbiome technologies and make them to the new frontier in skin health. I am very excited that together with the team we have achieved a very important milestone on that journey. By joining Beiersdorf our novel approach has its path to consumers all over the world,” says Veronika Oudova, CEO of S-Biomedic.
