Yesterday (September 12th), the General Office of the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government released the "Several Measures to Support the High Quality Development of the Synthetic Biology Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which stated that it will accelerate the improvement of the research and innovation level in the synthetic biology field in Hangzhou. And cash assistance will be provided for registration projects such as cosmetics and new cosmetic ingredients.

The support from the government undoubtedly provides strong support for the innovation of cosmetics raw materials. Combining the number of new raw material records, the financing boom of upstream enterprises, and the search for alternative Japanese raw material solutions for cosmetics brands, it is not difficult to see that domestic cosmetics raw materials are undoubtedly entering a golden period.

The highest prize is 5 million!

The importance of synthetic biology in the field of bioeconomy is no longer self-evident. In recent years, under the guidance of national macro strategies, research and industrial development in synthetic biology have been advancing rapidly.

In response to the background of the formulation of the Measures, the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government has also stated that it will accelerate the improvement of the research and development innovation level in the field of synthetic biology in Hangzhou, build a new economic development model of "technology research and development, achievement transformation, and industrial agglomeration" in synthetic biology, create an innovative highland for industrial clusters in the field of synthetic biology, and seize the opportunity for the development of the synthetic biology industry.

Intercepted from the official website of Hangzhou Municipal People's Government

Specifically, the Measures are mainly divided into three parts with a total of 18 opinions, clarifying the scope of application and key support areas of the Measures; Key work tasks and policy measures; Policy implementation time and funding matching principles.

It is reported that this measure will focus on supporting the development of high-end biological raw materials, biological medical beauty raw materials and products, new cosmetics raw materials and other aspects using synthetic biotechnology, and encourage enterprises to enhance their innovative research and development capabilities in synthetic biology by strengthening research and development, conducting technology trading activities, and other means.

Among them, the "Measures" emphasize that for recognized synthetic biology enterprises, if their R&D investment exceeds 10 million yuan in the same year, they will be given 10% of the R&D investment after evaluation, and the maximum annual subsidy amount for a single enterprise shall not exceed 5 million yuan.

It is worth mentioning that when discussing how to promote the agglomeration development of the synthetic biology industry, the "Measures" also specifically mentioned the need to support the research and development and production of new cosmetics raw materials.

Specifically, the "Measures" state that for new cosmetic ingredients registered or filed with the National Drug Administration and successfully included in the "Catalogue of Used Cosmetic Ingredients (2021 Edition)", after approval, a maximum subsidy of 300000 yuan will be given for each item; For enterprises engaged in cosmetics research and development and production, special cosmetics product registration certificates (excluding cosmetics such as hair dyes and perms) will be obtained through registration procedures, and a maximum reward of 100000 yuan will be given for each variety. The maximum annual subsidy (reward) amount for a single enterprise shall not exceed 1 million yuan.

The genuine support from the government has also received praise from a group of industry insiders Give the Hangzhou government a thumbs up, it's really supportive. A professional from Hangzhou said.

It is worth mentioning that in February of this year, the Guangzhou Municipal Government issued the "Implementation Opinions of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government on Promoting the High Quality Development of the Cosmetic Industry", which also mentioned the support for new cosmetics raw materials and stated that a one-time support of 1 million yuan was provided for registered new cosmetics raw materials that were first used in cosmetics and included in the list of used cosmetics raw materials in China, with a single enterprise not exceeding 5 million yuan per year.

It is not difficult to foresee that if such support policies are popularized, a wave of new cosmetic raw material registration will emerge in the near future.

250 million yuan per transaction, these technologies are highly valued

In recent years, with the increasingly mature skincare concept of Chinese consumers, ingredients have become the key to opening the door to efficacy for brands. As an important support for product efficacy, the importance of basic research and development of cosmetics has also been increasing.

In this context, not only have government departments attached great importance to the development of new cosmetics raw materials and synthetic biology industries, but the capital market has also shifted its focus to the upstream of the industry, starting to search for potential and technological local enterprises.

According to incomplete statistics from Blue Eye, since July this year, 8 upstream beauty related enterprises have obtained investment and financing ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars.

From the perspective of financing amount, Shanghai Cotaiya Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Cotaiya Biotechnology), established in September 2021, topped the list with a B-round financing of 250 million yuan. Prior to this, Cotaia Bio also obtained three rounds of financing in November 2021, May 2022, and November 2022, respectively. As of now, it has accumulated nearly 500 million RMB in capital reserves.

This may be related to the profound industry background of the founding team of Cotaia Biology. It is reported that the founder of Kotya Biotech is Zhao Lishan, who served as the former Vice President of Global Research and Development and President of China for Amyris (known as the "founder of synthetic biology"). He has led or participated in the development of multiple innovative technologies. In addition, Kotya Biotech team also brings together talents from both domestic and foreign sources such as Meihua Biotech, Evonik from Germany, and former executives of Amyris.

From the perspective of financing enterprise types, biotechnology enterprises mainly focused on synthetic biology technology are still the most valued race track for capital. But in this, the Blue Eye has also discovered the possibility of more segmented tracks.

For example, in August this year, Beijing Yuanyu Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yuanyu Biotechnology) announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan of A-round financing. Established in 2021, it is one of the few new generation synthetic biology enterprises that can excavate and create microalgae based raw materials at the molecular level and achieve large-scale production through industrial methods; In July of this year, Shenzhen Dehe Biotechnology Co., Ltd., a global supplier of artificial intelligence aquaculture microalgae raw materials, also completed a B-round financing of tens of millions of yuan. The funds raised in this round of financing will also be mainly used for the promotion of the Shanghai whale algae project construction and further product research and development.

Green Eye has learned that microalgae, as a type of autotrophic plant widely distributed on land and sea, with rich nutrients and high photosynthetic utilization, have great development prospects in cosmetics, such as astaxanthin β- Active substances such as carotene and phycocyanin can be extracted from microalgae.

In fact, due to the "sustainable" properties and functional role of microalgae in cosmetics applications, many beauty giants around the world have valued and invested in this field.

For example, in July this year, Shiseido Group announced an investment of 1 billion yen (approximately RMB 49.39 million) to focus on the research and production of microalgae cosmetics; At the end of November last year, BOLD, a venture capital fund under L'Oreal Group, acquired a minority stake in the biotechnology company Microphyt, whose main business is to "utilize patented low-carbon processes to sustainably produce microalgae and convert it into new cosmetic solutions".

It is not difficult to see the popularity of this track with the successive entry of giants. In the second half of this year, two domestic suppliers of microalgae raw materials have been invested, which indirectly demonstrates that against the backdrop of the promising microalgae market, Chinese raw material enterprises have received recognition and favor from capital for their technology in this field.

Spring has arrived for domestic raw materials

Whether it is the popularity of synthetic biology in the cosmetics industry or the investment of microalgae raw material enterprises based on synthetic biology, it represents that domestic raw materials are playing an increasingly important role in the development of the cosmetics industry The basic scientific research and innovation awareness of the Chinese cosmetics industry are fully awakening. A senior industry figure is even more outspoken.

It is undeniable that in the beauty industry, having patents and technological barriers can help companies establish brand premiums and added value.

In recent years, with the application of new technologies represented by synthetic biology, domestic raw materials have already had more opportunities to stand out. According to incomplete statistics from Qingyan, from January 2021 to August 2023, approximately 79 new cosmetic ingredients have been registered with the National Drug Administration, of which 47 were applied for by local enterprises, accounting for 59.5%. Out of the 31 new raw materials registered this year alone, 22 are domestically produced, accounting for as much as 71%.

For Chinese beauty companies that have long been stuck in the "bottleneck" state, this can be said to be a major breakthrough in raw material innovation, accounting for half of the country's new material filing.

However, as emphasized by Yue Min, General Manager of Baiyuete Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., facing the constantly changing needs and preferences of consumers, a single raw material and price advantage can no longer solve the core problem If efficient products can be created through formula technology, allowing consumers to truly feel the changes brought by the product to themselves, it will be a key point to grasp consumers in the future

But everything is difficult at the beginning, and every technological innovation will be the accumulation of high-quality development for Chinese cosmetics.

In addition, the incident of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea since last month has also sparked consumer backlash against Nissan's brand and raw materials, and "domestic substitution" has also become a hot topic for a time. Blue Eye has learned that dozens of beauty brands have made public statements in response to whether to use Japanese ingredients, and a trend is that the process of domestic substitution is accelerating.

For example, Zhuben brand stated in the announcement that "the occurrence of the nuclear sewage discharge incident has accelerated the process of raw material replacement." There are also brands such as Lifetime Research, Xuhui Ji, and Purid that have stopped purchasing Japanese raw materials and conducted raw material replacement before the release of nuclear contaminated water into the sea.

Many industry insiders also pointed out that the trust of daily cosmetics is facing a test, which may accelerate the process of independent research and development of domestic beauty brands and local cosmetics raw materials.

It can be foreseen that under the multiple promotion of the market, capital, industry, and regulation, domestic raw materials will embark on a rapid development path.