Tech, TCM connect to develop personalized skincare products
Two companies recently announced they are modernizing skincare by leveraging machine learning and Traditional Chinese Medicine to identify synergistic ingredient combinations previously not used.
Green Mountain Biotech (GMB), a raw material company that develops and supplies botanical ingredients to the skincare industry, and MeNow, a biological cosmetic personalization company that uses a deep tech AI platform, have joined forces to identify new plant combinations targeted at skin conditions.
“A real game changer”
Chinese medicinal plants selected by GMB scientists were scanned using MeNow's patent-pending algorithms to predict their therapeutic effects on different skin conditions.
Coralie Ebert, PhD, CTO and co-founder, MeNow, told NutraIngredients-USA that the cosmetic industry has largely focused on plant extracts like argan oil or rosemary extract, whose effects have been known for centuries.
“This is because identifying new therapeutic plants using experimental methods is like finding a needle in a haystack. But artificial intelligence is about to revolutionize the field. Being able to accurately estimate the potential of a new plant in one click is a real game changer,” Ebert said.
Tapping into tech
GMB explained that understanding how plants affect us is a complex problem–especially when you factor in the diversity of skin types and human biology.
MeNow enlisted tech to do the heavy lifting by developing an algorithm that predicts the biological effects of plant extracts on individuals or target populations. The company centralized an extensive database that contains the molecular composition of tens of thousands of plants. This database is connected to an AI-based algorithm that can predict the biological effects of any molecule based on its structure and chemical properties.
One algorithm connects the predictions to a virtual model of the user that adapts to each individual and the other computes the interactions between the molecules. This can be done either for one plant extract or a combination of ingredients.
Skin issues in focus
According to Yonit Bomstein, PhD, co-founder and head of R&D, GMB, the project will focus on scalp care and skin aging–areas she said are the most popular.
“Each one covers many different problems and pathways leading to pathogenesis of different skin appearances.”
Bomstein added that the results will shed new light into mechanisms of action and help inform herbal treatments.
A new era
Hilla Ben-Hamo, PhD, co-founder and CEO, MeNow, stated the project marks the beginning of a new era in the world of personalization dermocosmetics.
"No one before has combined the latest innovation of deep-learning technologies with traditional medicinal plants to discover brand-new formulations and it is thrilling to be at the forefront,” said Ben-Hamo. “It is very enthralling to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence and traditional medicine. It is a winning combination: leveraging centuries of empirical evidence and maximizing it by analyzing millions of data points to maximize the results and find new, winning combinations.”
