Collagen for beauty-from-within and joint health “skyrockets” during COVID-19 pandemic
18 Sep 2020 | Biocell Technology
Suhail Ishaq, president of Biocell Technology, shares why comparing different collagen types is like “comparing apples to oranges,” and how the company ensures a high-quality ingredient for product manufacturers. Building on a previous interview with NutritionInsight, Ishaq explains how collagen supplementation has helped consumers maintain their skin health at home throughout lockdown restrictions.
This is Anni Schleier reporting for Nutrition Insight.
I'm here with Suheil Isa.
He's the president of Bio Cell Technology.
He's going to share some market insights on the use of collagen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hi, Sue.
Thanks for joining us today.
It's a pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
So your company promotes the idea that not all collagens are alike.
Why is this particular piece of information so important to your company?
And why should it be for clients and and consumers as?
Sure, the collagen market is a highly crowded and competitive space, and within that space, biocell collagen and the company which produces a biocell technology, has a very differentiated position in the market.
And, and mainly that's because collagen is a protein and bile cell collagen is actually much more, more than just collagen.
It's sort of like, and there's many different types of collagen, sort of like comparing apples and oranges, right?
Both are fruits, but there's different varieties and, bile cell collagen is, in based on, it's clinically studied and there's much more than just collagen.
It's actually a matrix.
Of collagen type 2 peptides, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid, and these molecules have many applications in health and beauty, and bile cell collagen has been substantiated by 7 human clinical trials.
There's a lot of science behind it.
We've invested in over 2 decades of research and development, , research and development activities.
We've also been awarded several patents, for, our invention in this space and, and our pioneering work that we've done, and, and I would like to make it clear that bio cell collagen is actually an ingredient, brand, and the way we make it available is to partner companies that, license it from us.
The only way we generate revenues is from the sales of our raw material.
And then, the, our partner companies incorporated into the finished products and then bring the consumer, finished products to market containing, our clinically substantiated and proven ingredient.
We've already touched upon the topic of health and beauty.
What are the other main trends that buyer cell collagen taps into in this seemingly crowded collagen market?
Yes, you know, there's these molecules have applications that reach far beyond just health and beauty.
For instance, our ingredient, bile cell collagen has been shown to be effective for joint health, improving joint comfort and mobility, and we also have studies which show that it has.
Beauty from within applications reduces wrinkles, fine lines, improves skin elasticity, improves skin hydration.
So, it's, an amazing multifunctional ingredient.
And we also have a promising research which shows the ingredient has applications in exercise recovery, sports nutrition as, as.
So throughout the food and supplement industries, there have been numerous supply chain disruptions, and what has your experience been?
Sure, we've been very fortunate, with our supply chain.
I guess the key to our, success has been our long-term partnerships, with our supply chain partners.
And, we made, we only manufacture our products, our ingredients actually in the United States and Germany.
And another key point about bios collagen compared to other collagen materials, most collagen materials that are marketed as hydrolyzed collagen, gelatin, collagen peptides are derived from the entire carcasses of animals, so sometimes, Differentiating between the different parts and whatnot can, can be pretty tricky and, and difficult.
Our material, on the other hand, is only produced from the, chicken sternum cartilage.
So it's, that, the cartilage material is very unique because it's devoid of any, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels.
So it's a very pure source.
And, and, and through our supply chain partners, we go through painstaking.
Measures to, to basically derive our material only from the sternum cartilage.
So we've, we've been, we've been very fortunate to be able to, continue that.
And another, interesting point is that, because of the molecular composition, so I, I mentioned earlier that our Ingredient is more than collagen, so it's a naturally occurring matrix of hydrolyzed collagen type 2 peptides, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate.
And because of this unique composition, the dosage tends is, is, is much lower than you would, you would find an efficacious dose and other competing collagen ingredients.
For example, the skin health dosage for, skin beauty from within, is only 1 g, and for joint health it's 2 g per day.
So, that's another interesting point.
You and I have actually already spoken on the topic of at-home skin care routines amid the pandemic.
Would you say that collagen is already mainstream in the space?
Definitely it's become a mainstream.
You, you know, hear about college and almost everywhere now and it's tremendous to see, , considering, you know, where it was only 15 years ago.
So I'm really, excited about the innovation and the research development that's happening in this space and one of the, , points I want to make also.
Is nowadays with the new normal and, post the pandemic, social distancing, It's really important that people can maintain their, their skin regimen.
Of course, this has affected the ability for people to go to spas and, and, and, and whatnot.
Of course that's going to continue, but I think there's going to be more emphasis on at home routines, and, and this is just an excellent addition to a skin, skin health regimen.
One of another interesting thing is.
Hyaluronic acid and collagen, these molecules are also used in like medical devices and, and pharmaceuticals and injections.
Some of those results people, people like because they're very pronounced and, but bile cell collagen is an ingredient that you take, you ingest.
And it has more of a systemic, effect, which means that it has a whole body connective tissue support.
So the types of results that we're seeing in our, in the clinical studies are more subtle, benefits to the skin, but a lot of, I think most of the population, they want like subtle improvements which looks, look more natural than really drastic type, type of, effects that can be accomplished through cosmetic surgery.
So this is just a great.
A supplement that anyone can incorporate into their daily routine.
And since we discussed this topic in April, how has the pandemic impacted your sales for biocollagen?
Have consumers really been looking for home applications to their skincare routines as much as you predicted then?
You know what, it was very hard to, predict, you know, how, things would be affected.
There's been a lot of gloom and doom type scenarios and whatnot, but what we've noticed which has been.
Is basically because we don't sell the finished product, we sell the ingredient, but we've noticed our brand, partners, our licensed partners that use our ingredient that they have seen, just a tremendous increase in spike in sales, digitally, so online, , sales have just, skyrocketed.
So we feel like this trend is going to continue in the new normal and with the disruption that's happened in the retail space, definitely it's changing the way we do business and also the way our partners are doing business, but it's a matter of all good businesses will always adjust and adapt to the environment and the situation.
And with these financial results in mind, what does biocell technology have in the pipeline and how are you going to continue to promote the benefits of collagen for the inside and out?
Sure, as a company that's dedicated to science, that's really in our root principles and what our company was founded on, we're constantly, engaged in research and development activities, so we like to have, studies in the pipeline, so we're looking at, , really understanding, fundamental mechan mechanistic.
Type of, research, because we have the clinical studies, which there's no doubt that it does, it is, it does work, it's beneficial in, in humans, but what's really interesting also is to see kind of, you know, how does it work and what makes it effective.
So, , we, we've done a number of, studies, we just published, in, this earlier this year.
A, a, a lab study which showed, improvement really validated, the, the results that we've seen in humans and we have more, , research, in the pipeline such as cell culture studies and, and the lab types.
Studies to understand like, you know, the, the inflammation pathways that the biopsychology and improves and, and how it works.
So stay tuned you'll be, you'll be definitely kept abreast of any, any research publications.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
