How Biotech Is Powering The Next Generation of Microbiome Skincare ft. NanoSpun

0:01Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. Today is a very special episode because we're going to be talking about the future of skincare. I know a lot of you have heard about the microbiome. You've probably seen skincare related to the microbiome, you know, out there. There's a lot of brands that have popped up that are kind of buzzing about this topic, you know, whether they're talking about the actual bacteria or like, you know, what feeds those bacteria. So within all of that noise, there are very few brands and technologies that are really disrupting the space. And so we've had we have the opportunity to speak to one of those technology founders today.

0:37So without further ado, please welcome founder and CEO of Nanospun Technologies, Ohad Bendor. Welcome, Ohad. I'm so excited to host you and to talk to you. Thank you so very much. Happy to be here and thank you for having me. Yeah, no, I'm really excited to have this opportunity to talk to you because what Nanospun is doing is extremely novel, you know, in this space. And I know you and I know about it, but I can't wait to tell everybody about it. Just to get us started, Ohad, where did this original inspiration come from, the aha moment for the technology? Yeah, I think the beauty about Nanospun is that we've got constant aha moments and eureka feelings.

1:22The core technology was conceived at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and since then was developed and even leapfrogged by the company team and the essence is our ability to create this functional live active tissue that enable the to realize the full effect and the full promise of biological cells and biological cells products yeah i mean it is really interesting because you know when it comes to the biotech in this industry there's i mean there's so many so many directions you can go in you know so you guys you going in the direction of the microbiome and and paying attention to that is i think very relevant because there's a lot of products i know even last year i've seen so many brands pop up you know what i mean trying to figure out how does the microbiome work for the skin what is it you know what can we do and there's it's a very very complex topic to to you know to go down so i want to ask what exactly you know you know you described it the brand is the nvidia of biotech skincare what exactly do you mean by that nanospan enables and creates actually a new reality of cell-based product so like nvidia like intel that create creating a new enabling environment by their electronic processor nanospan creates a biological working unit that enable us to take the right cells bring them in the right concentration to the right place, activate them at the right time and benefit both from the presence of the cells as well as the cells product in skincare.

3:01It's the presence of freshly produced postbiotics. That's so fascinating. You know, this is something I think we need to learn a little bit more about because I don't even think most people know truly what postbiotics are a lot. You know, I think there's a lot of lack of knowledge, you know, out here in the space. And I would love for you to kind of go into this why are the products and the probiotics so important like what is their relevance wonderful probiotics is it this is a very important question and probiotics are extremely important and vital to our overall human health and well-being most people are familiar with probiotics in the context of the gut microbiome and the gut probiotics however probiotics is extremely important for our body and for our health from head to toe nanospan is focusing on the skin microbiome and the skin probiotics which is very important from two directions one is the protection against harmful bacteria the colonization photogenic bacteria but more importantly or as importantly is it a source of certain proteins and bioactives that are nourishing the skin and by creating this very advanced tissue that is made from the right probiotics deliver it the right time to the right place in the right concentration and actually activated and produce the active ingredients fresh and oxidized in their fullest effect we are enabling the industry and enabling mankind to benefit from the full potential and realize the full potentials for probiotics.

4:43Yeah, that's really huge, actually, because, you know, no one really discusses how postbiotics have, you have to be very specific with these things, you know, it can't be that every product, you know, that I see in the industry for skin, right, for skin purposes, is kind of gearing towards, I don't know, like this one size fits all model, which is fine, but then the science doesn't make sense because to be able to have that, you know, what you're saying with that freshly made versus it's been sitting in a jar, you know what I mean, for however many months since it was manufactured, that's a night and day.

5:19And then what that actually does for your existing microbiome, no one discusses that topic, you know what I mean? So it's like we hear about brands when they're made, but then we don't hear about, you know, there's a big disconnect there. So that's very, very fascinating. Now, I want you to walk us through this. I know there's something that you call the four-layer disruption. Can you walk us through this? What does that mean, four-layer disruption in layman's terms? So we've got prebiotics, which are those elements that supposed to nourish the existing microbiome. The microbiome, as I said before, is this layer of good bacteria that are nourishing or protecting our skin.

5:58However, this layer is being damaged on a daily basis. Pollution, cosmetic products, soap. So the industry trying to revive this miracle layer by various or substituted by various means that so far were, let's say, with a limited effect. The first attempt were done by prebiotics. Prebiotics are those elements that are supposed to nourish the damaged microbiome. very little effect or limited results since does not address the real problem the real problem is the constant damage the other approach was to take the probiotics product what called postbiotics those proteins and bioactive ingredients and try to produce them in factories in production sites and add them into the product this is a novel and interesting idea however the problem is that those proteins are being oxidized relatively quickly within minutes within hours within a day so just adding them not necessarily even in the right concentration into products is less effective and the last attempts were done by this prebiotics the attempts to add probiotics into whether water based or oil based solution here again because of a lifespan of the biology it has a very limited effect and when the actual product reached the end users the probiotics is not really alive this four layer disruption that we created is affecting the industry and disrupting the industry in various layers the first layer is the fact that nanospan product because it's a physical solution because we take the cells and print them as a structure as a working unit we are bringing into the equation real live active cells that as you will see in the second layer are stable for a very long period of time so we've got stability and shelf life of the cell themselves for a very long period of time the third layer so the first layer was the real live active cells the second one was that they are we maintain the livelihood for a long period of time the third layer is the large quantity of cells.

8:10We bring a huge number of cells as a product. Every square centimeter of nanospan product include around 1 billion bacteria. A face mask, for example, is 100 billion bacteria. And the last layer, innovation and disruptiveness, is the fact that the cells product, the proteins, are produced in real time at the end user's side. We called it in situ on demand so the end user whether it's a doctor or whether it's the consumer at home activate the product produce the active ingredient the postbiotics the proteins fresh and immediately apply them to his skin or her skin and therefore achieve the maximum effect of those proteins on our skin cells wow that is really fascinating i mean that's truly truly cutting edge.

9:02And I'm curious, how did you solve the shelf life problem and the stability problem when you were trying to keep the ingredients bioavailable and natural? Like, you know, you don't have preservatives in your product. So how did you solve that problem? This is a really key point. And I think one of the main challenges that the industry coped with pre-Nanospan. So Nanospan, this game-changing magic fabric solution of Nanospan, addressing the problem on two levels the first level is the probiotics cell themselves the second level is the probiotic products the postbiotics so with the probiotic the actual tissue our processes has a unique proprietary elements which enable us to leave the cells alive they are dormant they are not in high activity level but they can be triggered back into full activity when required and as i said before we activate them at the end user the second level is the postbiotics the proteins level here we completely circumvent the problem of stability and shelf life by creating a mechanism, a working unit that is actually activated by the end user, reduce the active ingredient then and there to achieve the best skin treatment results.

10:29That's great. So it's like kind of as they need it, it's activated there and then you activate it and then you use it. That's the idea. absolutely in simple layman words nanospan created the freshly squeezed orange juice of skincare yeah yeah this is amazing vitamin c similarly again it's it's it's a unstable molecule when you produce the orange juice on site in your own kitchen or in your own in the restaurant and serve it it has the full effect the full vitamin effect on your body nanospan is the same thing we produce the postbiotics fresh at the right time by the user whether it's a doctor or home user and then they are benefiting from the full promise and realize the full promise of postbiotics absolutely no this is truly novel and you know the interesting part also is we talk a lot about delivery systems in the skincare industry you know but the really unique part about what you're doing with nanospund is that it's biological you know this is biological delivery not chemical what makes your tissue tech a leap rather than a tweak to this whole conversation yeah i i think the whole space of delivery of and controlled release of active ingredients is being in the central of attention for many years yeah and again the industry so far tried to approach thing by creating some kind of a capsule surround the cells in in or the active ingredients in various manners or immobilize them to the surface and it's important to note that the more active the ingredients are and the less stable they are it becomes 10 times harder to maintain them stable and and relevant the beauty about nanospon solution again is this our ability to circumvent the whole stabilization and shelf life issue by creating a working unit the nanospon product the first line of product looks like a mask but in reality it's not a real mask it's a factory and the factory can be activated and triggered into production by the end user and therefore we are creating a working unit we are not a delivery tool but a factory that can be utilized by the user i love that that's brilliant that's absolutely brilliant and i think that's the you know i think for consumers it's very interesting what this is going to do you know, to a normal consumer, because when I first heard about technology, I was just, I was so intrigued, you know, that how is this possible?

13:21But I mean, you're bringing a whole different way of like viewing truly like fresh skincare, you know, out here. And it's like going to set a huge, I think a new benchmark for all skincare products. I think this is something that I've been thinking about for a long time, where it's like, you know, people talk a lot about personalization of skincare, You know, using biotech to make products more personable to consumers. But the hard part, I think, about all of that is that many times the biotech can be very, very expensive. So my question is, how is Nanospun building for both scale and customization at the same time?

13:58So what Nanospun built is a platform. We are actually indifferent to the type and the consortia of probiotic bacteria or even other type of cells that we are integrating into our production machinery. So by having this broad platform, it enables us actually very easily to tailor the product for different users, for different needs. we are already offering by the way four products for skincare skin essentials age rejuvenation acne prone skin and sensitive skin solution more towards addressing issues related to rush and we're also offering by the way when we'll come into the market soon scalp and hair treatment solution the reason that we can offer so many or actually targeted solutions is the fact that we can choose the right consortia the right probiotic that are we that we are integrating in our production machinery to create a product that is as tailored as you can get so a full personalized solution that includes the right bacteria for a specific person for a specific period of time and the question whether we will go as far between the tailored and personalized is more an economic question and not a capability question that makes sense wow that's really fascinating actually that we're we can go down that road eventually because you know one of the conversations ohad that i've had a lot of on the podcast about the microbiome is how it's unique to everybody you know the microbiome is like our fingerprint so we have to really approach it from this lens of understanding that's very, very complex and everybody's microbiome is different.

15:46So I would love to see the day, you know, when consumers can say, no, I want something custom to me, you know, and I want this to be specific to my microbiome and something that they can track. That would be so amazing to see that, you know, on a mass scale when people are looking for that in their skincare rather than just buying, you know, whatever is made. Many, many products that don't work at the end of the day. So it's very interesting what you're doing. What's the role? I want to talk about this a little bit because AI is obviously everywhere. So, you know, with AI on the rise, you know, it's in every industry.

16:17And I'm really curious, what is the role of AI and also microbiome diagnostics enabling more personalized solutions through your product, the Biotica 1905 brand? in in this era when there is this exciting development of ai and actually also diagnostic in skincare and there is a tremendous focus on both diagnostics and ai nanospon is becoming the enabling technology as weird as as weird as it sounds the enabling technology for the ai and the diagnostic and the reason is that gathering knowledge and data is is always extremely important can be very valuable as long as you've got a solution as you as long as you've got a means to translate it into better product and in this era where you are trying to understand what is our microbiome problem what can we improve in our microbiome with diagnostic and ai to have a better skincare results and skin health if you do not have the tool to translate this information into a better skincare product, basically the data is meaningless.

17:27The vision and mission of Biotica is to be this exact bridge between the valuable AI and diagnostic information and creating a true microbiome probiotics tool to improve biological skincare into the highest level possible. And of course, at the highest level possible is having this ability to test the specific microbiome of a specific person, try to understand what he needs today, what he will need as we move forward and produce to him a product that is completely tailored to him. Nanospan can do exactly that. Nanospan can take this information and translate it into the most effective skincare products and hopefully change the industry, the skincare industry and the cosmetic industry for years to come.

18:20That's very fascinating. And I'm curious, I know you mentioned there that you have different solutions available, you know, under Nanospun, but specifically the mask component, why did you choose to lead with masks as your delivery format? Yeah, when you look on the mask, remember that the mask has actually two roles, two functionalities. The first one is a factory. This tissue is a very sophisticated and advanced tissue structure that produce the postbiotics when required, when we trigger the activation of the cells. The second role is it can be used as a delivery tool. Face masks are extremely common.

19:07one of the fastest growing sectors in the market and we are using the same fabric as a delivery tool of the active ingredients to the skin whether it's by the way in the shape of a face mask or other kind of skin patches however we will introduce within a few months a serum product as well when we will just use the fabric as a factory to produce this rich serum this postbiotic serum and then it will be the user will be able to apply it to the skin as a more liquid type of solution without even the mask oh wow so the mask is actually like it's part of the tech you know of like creating this this end product which is the serum that's really interesting very interesting we are using the structure that was producing the postbiotics to begin with now as a delivery tool and a very effective delivery tool to cover the skin.

20:06For user or applications where the serum will be required, we will introduce a product that is a serum-based solution as well to cover and offer solution for the whole market, whether it's a personal preference of the user, whether it's a topography of the skin and a better application of a serum versus a mask. So we're actually covering the whole industry, starting with a low-hanging fruit of face masks or other skin patches, but growing there to cover the rest of the industry, which is a serum-based solutions and a serum-based treatment. Wow. That's amazing. And I want to dive a little bit into your data because I know you guys have very, very strong clinical data to support the tech and why this is a better option.

20:55I would love for you to dive into that with us and tell us, what did you guys test for? What were some trials that you ran? The data behind Nanospan can be seen from two different angles. The first one, there is a huge amount of data in the industry and knowledge about why microbiome is so important. What is the real effect of probiotic cells? How can they affect different skin conditions? The problem, as I mentioned before, or the challenge was the delivery. and the stability. And these challenges were met by Nanospan and we succeed to overcome those very difficult hurdles. The second approach that we took is actually testing clinically our product, not testing clinically postbiotics, but actually taking our product to our testing partner and test it with a very large group where the application of the product was very reasonable, three times per week and seeing the results and we already demonstrated that nanospan products and nanospan technology can be effective for example in increasing hydration in reducing redness in reducing wrinkles everything by the way already within two weeks and furthermore within four weeks so within six applications and 12 applications you can already see meaningful statistically proven results wow so you know i that's very fascinating because i think those are some of the hallmarks you know of what we are looking for in any kind of skincare routine um you know when it comes to redness and just irritation of the skin especially that's where the microbiome really is very important for us to understand so this is very very interesting um now i know with the whole company you know you've positioned nanospund as more of a platform Now, what does that mean?

22:53Does it mean that brands can then license your tech and integrate their own actives into your structure? Or how does all of this work if a brand wants to work with you? Nanospan brings the Nanospan revolution into the market under three models. The first model is our white label model, where we've got our product under our partner's brand, empowered by a nanospan similar by the way to the intel model that you've got intel inside and enable the nanospan solution to tell their story even better by utilizing and maximizing this natural probiotic tool the second model is our own brand butica 1905 which is a very advanced premium professional brand that as i mentioned before can be tailored or already being tailored to specific skin condition by choosing the specific right consortia for various skin challenges and the third one is partnership model where we are in relatively advanced or various stages of discussions with potential market players in developing new kind of product, new solutions in our partner's space.

24:15So what do you think is holding back the rest of the beauty industry when it comes to embracing true live cell technology? The main challenge so far was stability and shelf life. We live in a biotech era and we already see a growing exponential growth of the focus on natural solution and then probiotics and, you know, treating the microbiome solution. So there is a huge focus on this microbiome as a solution. However, the problem so far or the challenge so far was the shelf life and stability as well as the bringing meaningful concentration of the cells as product. Nanospan solved those two obstacles.

24:59And we are leapfrogging now. the industry into the ability to deliver a true probiotic treatment solution not just the marketing aspect of it but a true solution that opened the door for new generation of cell-based product and solution starting with probiotics but of course it does not end with probiotics there is various other type of cells organism and biomolecules that can be delivered by the nanospan concept of in-situ, on-demand activation and usage. That's very interesting. Can you share more on your long-term roadmap for the company? What do you hope to do in the future with the technology?

25:44Our starting point, as I mentioned, is the four applications that I mentioned before, taking the right consortium of probiotics for those specific skincare applications. The next stage will be to expand our solutions into other specific skincare conditions by electing different consortia, other consortias of probiotic bacteria. Then we will take this solution, as I mentioned before, into the more tailored and personalized side of things using AI, using diagnostic in order to enable us to make even a better choice, not just a generic choice, but almost a personalized tailored choice as to what bacteria you need and at what time and create even a long process treatment all based on the Nanospan platform.

26:38That's amazing. I can't, I really, I'm excited to see this take off and to this, for this to start a new movement in the, you know, the personalization industry, especially when it comes to skincare. I think, you know, we've been hearing about microbiome stuff for a long time, but it's very, very difficult to get behind because it's not anything like this. You know, it's, there's no customization in the other products that I've seen. And, you know, this is very, very exciting for me as a consumer to see this and as a scientist because it can open up so many doors, you know, to how we approach skincare and understanding our own skin better, you know, right?

27:13I think that's the most fascinating part about the microbiome. It tells you so much about yourself and it tells you about what do you need versus what everybody's using, you know? I really believe in that. Like, skin is not a one-size-fits-all. There has to be personalization, customization there and um i'm just so excited to see what you guys are doing and and the novelty of this technology it's very great thank you so very much and again i think what nanospun succeed to do is a bring back nature to do what nature originally intended and what was created by nature to treat our scheme and by that we're covering probably 90 something percent of the market The beauty about and the opportunity here about announcement technology is our ability to take it one step further.

28:06And then with the existing already knowledge about what various people may need in a certain seasonality or age group or locations, try to build as much personalized solution as we can. So we are doing the right thing at the right time and with the most amazing technology. one of the most amazing technologies that exist out there thank you so very much yeah i know thank you and for all the any brand founders out there listening if you are curious about nanospun technologies make sure you scroll down the show notes we're going to be linking all of the information that's relevant the website the information that you need to get you know in touch with ohad and his team if you would like to work with them but ohad thank you so much this was so wonderful to chat with you and to learn all about Nanospun.

28:55It was my pleasure. Thank you so very much. Hey guys, so I hope you loved that episode. Please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform. We are available on so many different platforms, so wherever it is that you're tuning in, just go hit subscribe. You will be immediately notified when we publish new episodes. This way you're able to tune in to amazing insights from experts, brand founders, industry leaders, authors, all the wonderful people that we host. And that's very important for me because I love to hear from you guys and really understand what you love and what you want to hear more of.

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