Cosmetics: public research in support of private research

Toulouse Tech Transfer launches a new technology transfer with SYNTIVIA and ITAV: TTT, a Midi-Pyrenees-based technology transfer acceleration company (SATT), has just signed a licensing agreement with SYNTIVIA, a company specializing in the design of cosmetic active ingredients, and ITAV, the Institute for Advanced Technologies in Life Sciences. This agreement will enable the transfer of a so-called "fundamental" research technology to an applied research company.

Basic research applied to the cosmetics sector

Syntivia is a private research laboratory that designs and develops new active molecules in the field of dermo-cosmetic care. In a market in constant demand for new active ingredients, Syntivia is positioned to bring innovative molecules exclusively to national and international markets. The company offers exclusive active ingredients to the world's leading cosmetic brands thanks to an intense research and development policy. In this highly competitive market, constant renewal is necessary and the company must offer ever more innovative products by advancing research.

The ITAV, for its part, has numerous research tools, including ahe so-called "sheet of light" imaging technology which allows the observation and study of groups of cells called "spheroids" instead of single cells. These cellular models are used for tumour research in oncology.

Thanks to the maturation project operated by Toulouse Tech Transfer, this imaging technology combined with the production of specific spheroids, will be applied to cosmetic research and will allow Syntivia to study the phenomenon of skin pigmentation.

"The cosmetics market is currently the 3rd largest exporter in France and represents nearly 10% of patent applications worldwide. A constant renewal is necessary for us in order to continue to exist on this market. This technology transfer with Toulouse Tech Transfer will allow us to explore new avenues and thus be more competitive on our market", explains Philippe Bedos, co-founder and director of Syntivia.

A winning trio for competitiveness

ITAV and Syntivia are both based in an original location, designed to bring together public research, private research and the business world: the Centre Pierre Potier, a building in Toulouse Métropole. This centre located on the Oncopole site in Toulouse represents a complete ecosystem integrating on the one hand the ITAV, whose aim is to host multidisciplinary teams in the life sciences, and on the other hand a business incubator dedicated to biotechnologies, of which Syntivia is a part. It is in this original context, which favours innovation and technology transfer, that the players were able to exchange and reflect on this spheroid imaging project. In order to ensure that a commercial innovation emerges from this project, ITAV and Syntivia then called upon TTT.

TTT's primary mission is to create economic value from the work of regional public laboratories by making research results more attractive to companies. Through this technological maturation project, TTT enables the ITAV to valorise a key know-how for a private company.

TTT brings the human, technical and financial means to carry out the maturation programme set up with ITAV and Syntivia, and ensures its management. This one-year contract will enable the company to adapt a new technology to its needs and open new opportunities on the cosmetics market.

DTT makes it possible, on the one hand, to accelerate innovation programmes and market access time and, on the other hand, to reduce technical, commercial and financial risks by reducing the equity requirements of private companies.

"The ITAV is not a conventional academic research laboratory. We want to get closer to the entrepreneurial world and are in favour of a dynamic of valorisation. Our location at the Centre Pierre Potier allows us to be in daily contact with companies and allows us to make very interesting encounters. However, until now, we did not have the necessary means to carry out maturation projects. Toulouse Tech Transfer meets this objective and provides the necessary support so that the academic world and the business world can benefit from synergy and thus improve the competitiveness of French companies. Without Toulouse Tech Transfer, this technology transfer project would have remained a fiction", concludes Bernard Ducommun, Director of ITAV.

AboutToulouse Tech Transfer

Toulouse Tech Transfer, the Société d'Accélération du Transfert de Technologies (SATT) of Midi-Pyrénées, was created as part of the investment program for the future (PIA) and was allocated in 2011 a budget of 70 million euros over 10 years. TTT's main shareholders are the PRES Université de Toulouse, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). To find out more about TTT: www.toulouse-tech-transfer.com

About Syntivia 

The company is the result of a research project carried out with the "Natural Products" team at the Laboratory for the Synthesis and Physico-Chemistry of Molecules of Biological Interest at the Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse. This project, based on wood chemistry, led to the discovery of several innovative active molecules. After 8 years of professional experience in the cosmetics industry, Philippe Bedos created Syntivia to develop the technology and molecules resulting from this discovery. Based on these natural molecules, Syntivia implements a strategy of accelerated development of new active compounds, future dermo-cosmetic ingredients. The compounds discovered are tested, controlled, protected and offered on an exclusive basis. Located within the Greater Toulouse Health Cluster, at the Pierre Potier Centre, Syntivia is at the heart of research and technological innovation in life sciences. The company benefits from an exceptional scientific environment for the benefit of its customers. www.syntivia.fr

About ITAV

The ITAV, Institute of Advanced Technologies in Life Sciences is an incubator for interdisciplinary projects installed on the Oncopole site in Toulouse. The ITAV was created on January 1, 2009 as a Service and Research Unit (USR) under the supervision of the CNRS, the University of Toulouse III and INSA. The ITAV hosts research teams whose interdisciplinary projects are based on technological developments allowing remarkable conceptual advances and bringing a new dimension to life sciences research. www.itav-recherche.fr

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