Evonik acquires InnoHealth

Evonik has acquired Spain’s InnovativeHealth Group (InnoHealth) on undisclosed terms and incorporated it into the Care Solutions business line. The company has also recently launched an advanced collagen platform made via fermentation-based processes.

Based at the Scientific Park of Madrid and co-founded by Dr Eduardo Muñoz, Professor of Immunology at the University of Cordoba, InnoHealth has developed technology platforms that “screen and combine natural ingredients and extracts to generate novel dermocosmetic products with synergistic activities”. Evonik said that this buy will further expand its product development for active ingredients for the personal care and other sectors.

InnoHealth has also developed an artificial intelligence-based tool, the Ingredient Combinatorial System platform, which can be used to identify synergistic activities between individual ingredients, thus making it possible to develop new products with superior activity for specific applications. Evonik will use this for its own product development and as a selection tool for customers.

The new collagen platform, meanwhile, is based on recombinant technology that features a triple helix structure and other biological properties that mimic many of the attributes of natural collagen. Thus it can reliably interact with cells and tissues and be readily absorbed or remodelled by the body.

It entirely avoids the use of human and animal-derived products, which bring with them such issues batch-to-batch variability, potential transmission of diseases or pathogens, adverse immunogenic or allergic reactions and non-sustainable sourcing methods. Evonik’s Tissue Engineering Project House will use it to develop advanced biomaterial solutions in regenerative medicine.