Sabinsa/Sami Labs Signs Agreement with Degussa Goldschmidt

20/04/07 Sabinsa Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sami Labs Ltd., India, announced it has established an exclusive marketing partnership with Goldschmidt Personal Care, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Degussa GmbH, in which Goldschmidt will distribute select specialized, standardized botanical extracts from Sabinsa, all specifically developed for cosmeceutical use, to the personal care industry worldwide. This agreement allows Sabinsa to get its innovative and efficacious active ingredients into the hands of cosmetic and personal care companies by tapping into Goldschmidt's extensive customer base.

In today's cosmetics arena, a critical step to success is the ability to apply technology to build a concept where products are efficient, safe and properly formulated. The goal of this partnership is to develop and deliver even more unique products to meet the needs of customers and consumers by leveraging the key strengths of each company.

Willy Klipp, senior vice president and general manager of Degussa's business line Goldschmidt Personal Care states, "this agreement essentially allows us to offer novel nature-derived active ingredients to our broad customer base and reinforce our position as a preferred partner for the development of innovative products and new applications."

Sami Labs Ltd., at its national award winning research centre in Bangalore, India, developed these cosmeceutical products which have been tested for safety and efficacy in their biological research laboratory by advanced in vitro systems like cell lines and bioassays.

"Working with Degussa Goldschmidt Personal Care not only allows for deeper and more broad market penetration for our line of cosmeceuticals, but permits us to focus on our core competency of developing safe and effective ingredients for the global market," stated Madhu Subramanian, executive vice president of global operations, Sabinsa. "This partnership is seen as the initial and first step of a closer collaborative venture between Goldschmidt and Sabinsa."

"It is a perfect fit as Sabinsa's strength lies in the identification of bio-active compounds from Indian habitats, whereas we bring additional competence in the field of modern cosmetic claim substantiation and extensive formulation know-how to the table," comments Dr. Peter Lersch, head of R&D Care Ingredients/Biotechnology, Goldschmidt Personal Care.

Initial products developed through the partnership are expected to be launched in the second half of 2007. They will complete Degussa's well-known product portfolio, which consists of a unique range of organic and silicone-based specialties and active ingredients specifically designed as raw materials for personal care products.

Degussa's business line Goldschmidt Personal Care is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of raw materials, additives and active ingredients for the cosmetics industry. All business activities are strongly supported by application technology, as well as by in-house research and development. A dedicated team of highly skilled professionals is committed to excellence and customer satisfaction. Among other products, Degussa is specialized in manufacturing human skin identical sphingolipids including Ceramides by biotech means. Screening, identification and confirmation of biological activities for novel ingredients is carried with state-of-the-art cell and molecular biology including the use of DNA-Chip technology, cell cultures, artificial skin models and the validation of results in in-vivo studies.

Sabinsa has proven itself as the quality supplier of claim substantiated nutraceutical actives and brings the same commitment to the development of new cosmeceuticals. "At Sabinsa, we strongly believe in creating the future from the past, and continually look at botanicals with a long history of use to determine if there are bio-active compounds that can be successfully isolated and manufactured for today's marketplace," noted Dr. Muhammed Majeed, founder and CEO, Sabinsa. "By leveraging the key strengths of both companies, we are confident we can develop and deliver even more innovative and efficacious products that meet the needs of consumers."

Founded on the modern application of standardized Phytonutrients, Sabinsa/Sami Labs has established itself as a manufacturer and supplier of high-quality fine chemicals, organic intermediates and standardized botanical extracts. Sabinsa/Sami Labs also provides custom synthesis from lab scale to pilot to commercial scale. Sabinsa/Sami Labs has over 40 new cosmeceutical blends in its pipeline which are new innovative products based on its own original research.