Life sciences company to provide novel natural products for cosmetics industry through partnership

German Schäfer, a visiting scholar in Purdue University's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, shows off IDONA Bio-Revitalizing Cream. Schäfer is commercializing his natural ingredients through Bioprocol, a company he founded. (Purdue Research Foundation photo/Curt Slyder) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A company created by a Purdue University visiting scholar will commercialize novel products that show promise as natural ingredients in the cosmetics industry with assistance from a consulting company of Purdue experts.

Bioprocol has entered into a collaboration and partnership agreement with the Purdue Enterprise Co. to commercialize renewable resources originating from the rich biodiversity found in plants from the Andean and other South American rain forests.

Bioprocol's founder, German Schäfer, is a visiting scholar working at Purdue with Distinguished Professor Michael Ladisch, Director of the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering. Schäfer’s first two ingredients developed from these resources, SOLANUM COMPLEX™ and SOPEX™, are registered in the International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients for skin-care products, were launched overseas in 2016 and are poised to enter the market in the United States.

“SOLANUM COMPLEX is a natural compound rich in saponins that stimulates internal revitalization and regeneration of the skin,” Schäfer said. “SOPEX protects and stabilizes cosmetic and dermatologic formulations, acts as a natural non-synthetic preservative and is a replacement for parabens in our proprietary skin-care formula. Because of the high purity and bioactivity of these ingredients, only very low concentrations are needed to achieve their multifunctional benefits in cosmetics.”

“We are excited to mature our academic and science-based relationship with Purdue to a commercial one,” Schäfer said. “With Purdue as our partner, we will innovate, manufacture, and market never seen before products for beauty and well-being.”

Based in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue Enterprise Co. is a gateway company operating between Purdue faculty consultants and clients in need of highly technical consulting services.

“Bioprocol's vision has already brought novel skin care products to the Colombian market and we are excited to help translate that success to the United States and then internationally,” said Bob Davis, CEO of the Purdue Enterprise Co.

“We have been building a strong relationship with Bioprocol by exploring its true potential through our entrepreneurship engine at Purdue’s Discovery Park,” said Tommy Sors, Chief Scientific liaison at the Bindley Bioscience Center. “We continue to explore new joint research avenues with Bioprocol and it is gratifying to see this development accelerate through the Purdue Enterprise Co.”

Information about Bioprocol is available at http://bioprocol.com.

Information about Purdue Enterprise Co. LLC is available at http://purdueconsulting.com.

About Bioprocol USA Corp.

Bioprocol generates value by developing natural materials from South American biodiversity. Such materials are converted into formulated consumer products or used as raw materials for the co-creation or development of innovations with pharmaceutical, cosmetics and nutraceutical laboratories.

About Purdue Enterprise Co. LLC

Purdue Enterprise Co. LLC is a gateway company operating between Purdue faculty consultants and clients in need of highly technical consulting services. It provides streamlined access to Purdue engineering expertise on commercially viable terms.

About Purdue Research Foundation

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology centers. The foundation received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

Purdue Research Foundation Contact: Curt Slyder, 765-588-3342, caslyder@prf.org

Sources: Bob Davis, 765-494-3897, mdavis@purdue.edu

German Schäfer, gschafer@purdue.edu

Tommy Sors, 765-494-1678, tsors@purdue.edu