Beiersdorf : takes an equity investment into S-Biomedic

Hamburg, July 18, 2018 - Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, Germany, and S-Biomedic NV, Beerse, Belgium, today announced that they have entered into a cooperation to jointly drive the future of skin care via research into skin microbiota. Accordingly, Beiersdorf has taken an equity investment into S-Biomedic in the single digit million euro range.

'Since 1882, Beiersdorf has been successfully building partnerships with suppliers, universities, research institutions, as well as individual inventors and innovators,' emphasized Ralph Gusko, Board Member for Consumer Brands at Beiersdorf. 'With our investment into S-Biomedic, we open up for cooperations with start-up companies. These pioneers for future technologies will help us deliver answers for unmet consumer needs.'

While the pivotal role of the resident microbiota has been well established for the gut, skin microorganisms have largely been associated only with disease or malodor. Since the advent of next generation sequencing technologies knowledge about the delicate balance of the skin microbiota and its symbiotic effect on the skin's metabolism is growing exponentially. S-Biomedic has earned the position of being a frontrunner in this field.

'Skin Care is on the verge of disruption and will hugely benefit from the dramatic progress in life science research. Microbiome research is one of the most dynamic fields, and we need to deeply look at it for innovative offers for our consumers,' said Dr. May Shana'a, Senior Corporate Vice President of R&D for Beiersdorf. 'We are delighted to tap into Beiersdorf's vast experience in skin care to take our research to the next stage of commercialization with maximum speed and efficiency,' said Veronika Oudova, CEO of S-Biomedic.