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DIC Corporation (TOKYO:4631) and biotech startup Green Science Materials, Inc. (GSM) expand their collaboration on Suizenji Nori blue-green algae and SACRANTM polysaccharide extract, developing Suizenji Nori indoor mass cultivation technology needed to deliver the stable production of SACRANTM required for global scale. This vital leap in algaculture technology offers cosmetics makers an opportunity to ethically enhance the sustainability of skincare products to meet increasing consumer demand for ethical and sustainable products.
DIC Health Care Business Unit Manager, Ph.D. Naoto Sakurai notes, “Our collaboration combines GSM basic research with DIC Spirulina mass production experience to develop successful Suizenji Nori mass cultivation technology. We expect Suizenji Nori to secret SACRAN more efficiently in the ideal cultivation environment, allowing us to secure the meaningful production levels needed to significantly impact the sustainability of consumer products.”
Facing global challenges, many consumers are rapidly growing environmentally conscious, increasingly demanding more ethical and more sustainable skincare and cosmetics products.
Naoto Sakurai says, “Moving forward, we’ll be able to deliver SACRAN-based materials for the cosmetics industry globally. And as we continue improving efficiency, further reducing production costs, and scaling up Suizenji Nori cultivation more than several ten tons, we’ll expand into applications beyond cosmetics, like textiles, medical products and supplements.”
DIC Managing Executive Officer and New Business Development Headquarters General Manager Kiyofumi Takano notes, “By increasing our collaborations with and investments in leading-edge biotech startups, DIC is rapidly advancing our push toward delivering sustainable prosperity on a global scale. We hope the new materials we develop using our advanced algae cultivation knowledge and technologies will soon be utilized for various applications exceeding traditionally synthetic compounds.”
As protecting biodiversity is a major initiative at DIC, DIC and GSM will use their Suizenji Nori cultivation technology and research to promote conservation of the Kogane River (Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture), the only natural environment for Suizenji Nori habitat. Furthermore, GSM will actively promote initiatives expanding outdoor algaculture in nearby Mashiki Town by utilizing our achievement.
Source: DIC Corporation
