Amyris acquires Terasana to develop cannabinoid personal care NPD

25 Jan 2021 --- Amyris is acquiring Terasana – a natural skincare brand – to launch a branded clean beauty product focused on sustainably sourced cannabinoids.

With Terasana, Amyris offers skincare applications formulated with natural cannabinoids that deliver high efficacy, environmentally sustainable products direct to consumers. 

The move further expands Amyris’ portfolio of consumer brands, which includes its Biossance skincare products, Pipette baby and mother care line, Rose Inc. clean cosmetics brand and the recently announced Jonathan Van Ness partnership for a new clean hair care brand.

Unique bio-tech
Enabled by its proprietary Lab-to-Market synthetic biology platform, Amyris has a track record of developing and producing platform molecules from naturally sourced sugarcane.

Through its fermentation production platform, Amyris recently commercialized cannabigerol (CBG), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid.  

Amyris is focused on offering skincare applications formulated with natural cannabinoids that deliver high efficacy.Early results from clinical studies demonstrate that Amyris CBG skincare applications formulated with natural sugarcane-based Neossance squalane provide significantly better therapeutic effect and efficacy. 

This is compared to many standard cannabidiol (CBD) topical applications, addressing conditions like dry skin, skin flaking, irritation, redness and blemishes.

“We are very happy with the early clinical results demonstrating Amyris CBG benefits including enhanced performance when combined with squalane. We are excited to lead the cannabinoid industry with science-backed, sustainably and cost-effectively sourced minor cannabinoids delivering outstanding performance for consumers and our planet,” says John Melo, president and CEO of Amyris. 

“During the fourth quarter of 2020 we sold out our entire first industrial production of clean CBG as an ingredient for use in flavors and fragrances. We are very optimistic about the future of clean cannabinoids and the efficacy they can bring to skincare as a logical extension to our existing consumer portfolio. Amyris’ consumer business is nearly half of total product revenue and represents the fastest growing business activity in our portfolio.”

On the expansion track
Amyris is building on its expansive strategy. In December, Amyris closed a strategic transaction with DSM Nutritional Products. Under the terms of the agreement, Amyris is licensing DSM rights to assume the supply of farnesene – a bio-based compound – to Givaudan for the production and sale of a single specialty ingredient.

Lastly, earlier this month, the company announced it is launching its Biossance Clean Beauty skincare brand into the Greater China market via a partnership with SuperOrdinary Group.

 In 2019 the company revealed that with LAVVAN as its partner, it scored a US$300 million deal for the development of a new cannabinoid, and developed CBG accordingly. 

Edited by Kristiana Lalou