Technology purifies animal-derived collagen

HemoBiotech's new technology is designed to eliminate and inactivate pathogen particles from animal-derived ingredients used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. The company said the market for animal derived cosmetic and pharmaceutical products is valued at in excess of $7bn giving the makers of the technology a potentially wide audience. Developed for bovine blood replacement​ The technology was originally designed for the company's leading product Hemotech, a bovine replacement for human red blood cells, which necessitated a powerful purification tool due to fears over the spread of mad cow disease. The company has since seen the potential of licensing out this technology to cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies for the purification of any animal-derived product. "We are very excited about licensing this important technology. The goal is not only to use it for the manufacturing of our HemoTech but also to sublicense it to pharmaceutical, biotech, cosmetic and other companies that use animal-derived products for a variety of human uses. There is a continuing need to optimize the safety of such products for human use,"​ said Dr. Arthur P. Bollon, chairman & CEO of HemoBioTech, Inc. Far purer than required by regulators​ HemoBiotech's purification technology will render an ingredient one hundred to a thousand times purer than is required by the regulatory authorities, Bollon told CosmeticsDesign.com. "It is a major improvement on existing technologies as it eliminates and inactivates pathogen particles,"​ said Bollon. The issue is a quantitative one, explained Bollon. Regulatory authorities provide a limit for the quantity of pathogen particles that can remain in such products. HemoBiotech's technology not only purifies the product to this level but it also inactivates any remaining particles, he explained. A series of purification steps are used including fractionating columns, membranes and solvent-based steps to ensure the purity of the ingredient, said Bollon.