Academician Chen Jian: Synthetic biology will change the way cosmetic raw materials are produced, providing a key opportunity for domestic products to break through the bottleneck dilemma!
Synthetic biology is driving a paradigm revolution in the cosmetics industry of "building to know - building to use", fundamentally changing the production methods and industrial ecology of cosmetic raw materials.
1、 Chen Jian reveals pain point in raw material chain: 66 billion yuan market "big but not strong"
Chen Jian reveals core data: In 2024, China's cosmetic raw material output value is about 66 billion yuan, but high value-added active ingredients only account for 10%, and profits have long been controlled by foreign-funded enterprises such as BASF and DSM.
He further pointed out the three core issues in traditional raw material production:
Plant extracts have low content and high cost, and are affected by seasonal climate, resulting in pesticide and heavy metal residues.
The separation of animal monomers is difficult and the batch quality is unstable.
The chemical synthesis pathway is long, the conditions are complex, the product yield is low, and the environmental pollution is high.
Chen Jian believes that this model has left the Chinese cosmetics industry trapped in "low-level imitation" for a long time, making it difficult to achieve "independent innovation".
2、 Chen Jian: Synthetic biology is the key to breaking through the bottleneck.
The "cell factory" constructed by synthetic biology is the key to solving the raw material dilemma.
Its advantages are reflected in breakthroughs in efficiency and cost, the ability to solve ecological and scarcity problems, and the ability to break through the boundaries of efficacy.
3、 Chen Jian: The current development of "cosmetics" has a dual benefit policy end:
National Medical Products Administration's "Several Provisions on Supporting Innovation of Cosmetics Raw Materials" includes 9 measures to optimize the registration and filing of new raw materials, promote synchronous declaration, significantly improve efficiency, and open a policy window for raw material innovation.
Market side: In 2023, China's per capita GDP will reach 12700 US dollars, and the industry is transitioning from the "2.0 high-level imitation era" to the "3.0 independent innovation era". Consumers' demand for natural, environmentally friendly, and high-performance cosmetics is surging.
4、 Chen Jian: Domestic products need to seize opportunities and achieve the transition from following to leading
Chen Jian emphasized that raw material innovation is the fundamental driving force for the high-quality development of the cosmetics industry.
Synthetic biology enables Chinese brands to overcome the bottleneck of raw materials and build a new industry chain of "cell factory fermentation purification product", achieving a leap from "following" to "running in parallel" and then to "leading". This is a key opportunity for the value reconstruction of the Chinese cosmetics industry.
