One of the issues involved with formulating effective and functional skin care products, like face creams, sunscreens, and cleansers, involves the delivery of active ingredients into the skin cells themselves. Many active ingredients are oil-based and don’t mix well or penetrate in the body’s water-based environment. This basic physical reality means that products with oil-based active ingredients are not nearly as effective as they could be. Faced with this problem, skin care leader Dr. Denese SkinScience® has identified the next step forward for the industry and for her extensive product line.
Dr. Denese is partnering with Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) to incorporate its patented Ultra Shear Technology™ (UST™) into existing and new products that promise to deliver active ingredients more deeply and effectively than ever before. The key is the ability of the UST platform to create nanoemulsions, transforming oil-based substances into stable, water-soluble formulations. Here we’ll take a look at the deal and examine what it could mean for both parties involved.
Background on Dr. Denese
If you haven’t heard of Dr. Adrienne Denese, M.D., Ph.D., you probably aren’t in the market for skin care products. She is responsible for one of the most successful and awarded skincare lines in the history of QVC, having sold over $560 million through the outlet over the last 20 years. She has her own e-commerce and Amazon sales channels and has a new agreement this year to distribute her products through some of Costco’s extensive network of stores.
Dr. Denese earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the age of 22. She went to Cornell Medical School at the age of 32 and began to focus almost exclusively on the aging process and anti-aging ingredients. One of the first doctors to specialize in the area, she opened her own anti-aging medical practice in Manhattan. In 2002 she launched the Dr. Denese SkinScience® brand and in 2006 published the book Secrets for Ageless Skin. She is a pioneer in the industry and is still going strong today, striving to constantly improve her products. Her relentless pursuit of improvement led her to Pressure Bio’s unique UST platform.
Dr. Denese stated, “My mission has always been to develop and deliver the highest quality skincare products with life-changing effectiveness. Therefore, I could not be more excited at the prospect of teaming up with PBI and putting their UST platform's remarkable breakthrough in nanoemulsion effectiveness to work, in new generations of skincare products. I believe our partnership offers the opportunity to make new category-changing products that I have dreamed about, to enhance selected existing products, and to take these revolutionary new products to much greater heights and to many new customers through our existing QVC, e-commerce, and Amazon channels, as well as through our new Costco affiliation."
The Technology
Emulsification is the process of combining oil and water. You can create a temporary emulsification by vigorously mixing the two together, but once you stop the oil separates from the water, aggregates, and floats back to the top. In order to prolong the mixture, emulsifiers are used as additives that help stabilize the product. Emulsifiers are commonly used in food products, nutraceuticals, industrial lubricants, and household cleaning products.
Emulsifiers have also been used in personal care products for many years, to varying effect. Common emulsifiers in the industry include cetyl alcohol, glycerol monostearate, silicone (dimethicone), sodium isethionate, and ethoxylated alcohols. Many of these ingredients are not ideal for human use, some create toxic byproducts, and many are based on petrochemicals.
Pressure Bio’s UST technology takes a completely different approach to emulsification. It requires few, and low levels of, additives, which are all natural and plant-based. UST relies on the combination of high pressure (40,000 psi or greater) and intense shearing forces generated from their patented Nano Gap Valve to create nanodroplets of oil containing the desired ingredients that mix together into very stable, effectively water-soluble formulations. Not only are these nanoemulsions all natural and chemical-free with longer shelf lives, the microscopic size of the active ingredient containing oil droplets lend themselves to easier and far more efficient absorption in the body’s tissues (higher bioavailability).
Pressure BioSciences has identified a wide range of potential uses for its UST nanoemulsification platform beyond cosmetics. The company has already inked a number of deals to create hemp-derived CBD formulations, and there are clear opportunities in food & beverage products, inks and paints, pharmaceuticals, and more. UST even has the capability to stabilize homogenized dairy products like milk to extend their shelf life and mitigate the need to refrigerate them.
The UST platform was just introduced to the market in April, 2022, with Pressure Bio creating an early access program ahead of its Q4 2022 full launch in response to strong market demand. Deals like the Dr. Denese SkinScience partnership are a clear indication of the need for this groundbreaking approach to nanoemulsification, and the company anticipates many more agreements to follow as it ramps up production capacity.
Exciting Potential
The implications for both companies are far reaching. Dr. Denese SkinScience has averaged about $20 million in sales over the past few years, and with the new Costco sales channel taking hold is looking to increase that total in the coming quarters. Making her products more effective, more stable, with fewer additives should only help to further differentiate her anti-aging and other products in a very large global market.
For Pressure BioSciences, the deal represents a major anticipated revenue boost for the company as well as validation of its patented UST platform, not only for the cosmetics market but for the many potential clients across a wide range of industries. The company reported revenues for Q1 2022 of $480,000, almost all of it derived from its legacy PCT instrument sales. Meanwhile, Pressure Bio anticipates revenues in the $4 million range in 2023 from the three hemp-derived CBD deals it has already inked, prior to the Dr. Denese announcement, for the UST platform.
The new partnership has the potential to be transformative for both organizations. As Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO of Pressure BioSciences, noted, “...both Dr. Denese SkinScience and PBI understand that these are potential game-changers in an industry whose 2021 global market size was estimated to be over $130 billion. We look at this partnership as an opportunity for multi-million dollar accretive revenue growth for both companies over the next two years, with the potential to dramatically enhance the growth trajectory and profitability of both Dr. Denese SkinScience and PBI for years to come."
