Laboratory Skin Care Inc. (LSC) is the inventor of a platform dermal delivery technology under the trademark Hydroxysomes. The technology was initially licensed to L’Oréal Paris in its Lancôme product Platinéum in order to deliver calcium directly into the skin. Later, the technology was expanded to additional luxury skin care brands including Biotherm, Shu Uemura, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, Age Perfect and Age Re-Perfect.

You may recall TV commercials featuring Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda. Both Oscar winners proclaimed, “I knew calcium was good for my bones but I had no idea calcium was good for my skin.”

Keaton and Fonda were talking about LSC technology. More recently, other brands such as Rodan+Fields have taken advantage of this high-performing system.

Further development of the company’s dermal delivery platform resulted in the next generation of LSC’s Hydroxysomes. This involved co-engineering it together with other bioactives for continuous delivery of calcium and bioactives. LSC had initially exclusively licensed its next-generation bioactives. The company is now offering Hydroxysomes bioactives to all dermo cosmetics and cosmeceutical companies worldwide.

We recently caught up with LSC’s CEO and Founder Zari Mansouri to learn more about LSC and its dermal delivery platform.

Happi: Can you define what a dermal delivery system is and why it is so important in skin care?
Mansouri: Dermal delivery systems are lauded among dermatologist, medical professionals and skin care experts. The skin is actually the largest, and most effective, organ available to deliver active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and dermocosmetic bioactives effectively. This type of delivery has a number of quantifiable benefits including: lower irritation, the reduction of systemic effects as compared to oral administration and the increase in active efficiency by higher bioavailability.

Happi: What exactly are Hydroxysomes and how do they compare to other dermal delivery systems?
Mansouri: Simply put, Hydroxysomes are the newest, most advanced dermal delivery platform made of calcium and inorganic phosphate (non-nano) particles. High performance skin care products require formulations to effectively target specific skin concerns.

For the formulations to be effective, and for the innovative actives to penetrate into the skin and remain stable, they require an effective dermal delivery system. Hydroxysomes make this possible, allowing us to exceed consumer expectations for performance and condition resolution. 

Hydroxysomes stimulate skin cells to produce elastin and collagen, activate skin cell regeneration by accelerating barrier recovery, and improve firmness, cellular cohesion and hydration. They help repair damaged skin, improve skin integrity, increase skin flexibility and rejuvenation, and reduce appearance of fine lines & wrinkles.

With Hydroxysomes there are no penetration enhancers. There are no patches or devices and no liposomes or polymers. The calcium phosphate starting material comes from natural mines and is developed into secondary uniform particles by mechanical engineering and not chemical manipulations. The particles are 100% biocompatible and 100% biodegradable.

Furthermore, dermal delivery characteristics of Hydroxysomes allows them to be co-engineered with multiple classes of cosmetic actives or biological APIs, including proteins and peptides. This represents a highly lucrative market opportunity, as only 12% of all known APIs or cosmetic actives can currently consider dermal delivery options due to chemical nature, molecular weight limitations, or instability issues.

Hydroxysomes deliver bioactives with sustained release and increased efficiency/bio-availability, and affect thermal, chemical and photostability of otherwise unstable actives. An important driver through the use of the Hydroxysomes platform is the potential for patent evergreening, which extends patent protection on valuable API/bioactives and creates new patent protection opportunities for various dermocosmetic brands.

Happi: How do Hydroxysomes work?
Mansouri: Hydroxysomes ionically attach the bioactives throughout the inner pores and the outer surface of the particles. They are then released because of natural skin pH gradient in the stratum corneum (SC) which is 4.5 to 4.7 in the middle of the SC region. The particles remain localized in this region and as they dissociate in the lower pH of the skin, the bioactives are released over time in a sustained release manner.

A significant benefit of Hydroxysome particles is delivering calcium into the skin. What this means is that every time you are delivering a bioactive with Hydroxysomes you are also delivering calcium.

Happi: Why is calcium important?
Mansouri: Loss of calcium and its properties within the skin occurs as we age. As a result, the skin becomes more fragile, dehydrated, detached and less resistant to environmental damage. Most importantly, calcium is the actual signal to trigger keratinocyte differentiation which accelerates rapid skin cell generation. There are many studies that show when skin is damaged the calcium gradient is not present; it appears as the skin starts to repair itself as it regenerates. It restores and is directly responsible for skin cell regeneration. Calcium is becoming a keyword when referring to skin care treatments and cellular renewal.

Happi: So what really makes the Hydroxysomes dermal delivery system unique?
Mansouri: Mainly it is the performance that differentiates what we are doing. It’s the sustained release that makes it unique. Instead of delivering all at once, Hydroxysomes allow delivery to happen slowly over hours using the natural skin pH.
The active ingredients are delivered into the skin in what we call a “Patchless Patch” model, where the virtual patch is inside the stratum corneum rather than an actual patch outside the skin.

This patchless model of Hydroxysomes, due to its large surface area, delivers >95% of what is attached to directly into the stratum corneum so you don’t have to waste any expensive bioactives. This is excellent for brands that are focusing on sustainability and formulation minimalism. There is no damage to the stratum corneum or the skin, and it delivers through intact skin. Many of the brands we work with come to us specifically because we are actually able to stabilize many bioactives that are either highly unstable in their pure form, or difficult to use in final formulations because of their characteristics, or make them easier to deliver into the skin due to their hydrophilic nature.

One of the most exciting things for us at LSC is that we have taken our innovative delivery platform even one step further to allow brands innovative creativity. We also stabilize unstable bioactives like retinal and create a user-friendly format of bioactives normally not easy to use in final formulations like resveratrol. In addition, we are able to make the delivery of a water soluble bioactive like adenosine possible; previously, it was impossible to get across the skin due to its hydrophilic nature.

Happi: We hear a lot about the benefits of resveratrol in skin care, so what are the added benefits of delivering it with Hydroxysomes?
Mansouri: Resveratrol is a very potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Since it’s not stable in final formulations, having it co-engineered with Hydroxysomes not only allows it to be used in final formulations, it also allows it to be delivered with calcium into the skin where they are most effective.

With all of the environmental damage to the skin, having stable resveratrol as one of the most powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actives in skin care products is a huge advantage for brands that are focusing on skin wellness.

Happi: So, what’s the difference between retinol and retinal?
Mansouri: Retinal is the most potent of all retinoids (vitamin A derivative), which is also non-irritating and does not require a prescription such as retinoic acid. It is the most sought retinoid; however, it is highly unstable in its pure form. Retinal is much more potent than retinol and not irritating.

The normal metabolic pathway progression of vitamin A derivative in the body is first retinol, which converts into retinal and then becomes retinoic acid in the form that the body can best use it. Topical application of retinol only delivered 2% of retinoids into the skin and the remainder of retinol remains on the outside of the skin and that’s what causes irritation. Retinoic acid is by prescription and irritating. Retinal is as potent as retinoic acid, but it is not irritating, which allows a brand to use much smaller amounts of this active with much higher bioavailability and better performance, and demonstrates visible improvements of their retinoid products.

Happi: It’s clear that you love what you do, so tell us why you are so passionate about Hydroxysomes in the skin care industry?
Mansouri: Being able to make a difference. We want to exceed our customers’ expectations and not just meet them. We want to be a part of a bigger intention for reducing irritation, inflammation, something that produces rapid, visible results, and offers a safe biocompatible natural solution that helps the end users and allows our brand partners flexibility to implement their visions. What matters most to LSC is the betterment of our industry. Historically, the cosmetic industry was focused on beautiful product and beautiful packaging. Now consumers are becoming more demanding and expecting better performance from their skin care products. They are more educated on the “why” more than ever. The LSC dermal delivery platform allows targeted delivery of high performing bioactives to work inside the skin, where they are most effective. On a larger picture you can have therapeutic agents delivered topically into the skin without the systemic effect that you might have from oral medications or without the irritations you might have from other active dermacosmetic solutions. It’s an honor being able to make a difference in sustainability while helping brands to invent better cosmetics and create best-in-class skin treatment products.

www.LSCbioactives.com