Technology landscape
Chemical stabilizers for cosmetics
Client overview
Our client was an established personal care company looking to extend their technical understanding of chemical stabilizers. As consumer demand and regulatory pressure continues to push the industry towards safer, more environmentally friendly ingredients, the client sought new chemicals for the protection of actives and functional ingredients to prevent degradation in their personal care products. Solutions of interest included antioxidants and metal chelators, as these could increase the shelf life of the client’s products. Strategic Allies Ltd (SAL) undertook two phases of research, consisting of a landscape of novel stabilizers, followed by prioritisation of innovative solutions and a partner search.
The search
SAL began the landscaping exercise using secondary sources, including patents, news articles, academic publications and conference abstracts to capture new examples of chemicals being used for formulation stabilization. SAL searched across a range of industries including life sciences, food and feed, plastics, and fuels, allowing for a broader range of solutions outside the client’s expertise field. Through regular reconnects with the client, SAL was able to tailor the search, further filtering potential solutions based on the client’s feedback. At the end of Phase 1 of the project, the client selected the most promising technologies for a deeper dive. In Phase 2, SAL conducted further investigation into the prioritised ingredients, through interviews with speciality chemicals companies and ingredient suppliers in Europe, USA and China. Deeper technical insights (e.g., mechanism of action, limitations, use in other industries, etc) and information about the suppliers were shared with the client to help them reach a final prioritisation of the chemicals. By the end of the project, the client had a concise list of stabilizers and associated suppliers they could work with on proof-of-concept studies.
“A great outcome for this research”
“Thank you very much to the whole SAL team, I am very happy with the result”
Outcome
Phase 1: 60 stabilizers were shared with the client, with data covering chemical synthesis pathway, regulatory, and sustainability criteria, use cases, availability, etc.
Phase 2: 19 stabilizers were prioritised for further technical investigation and suppliers identified.
6 chemicals were recommended for proof-of-concept studies.