Bioland Goes Green and Global

Ki Ho Kim, a director of Bioland R&D Center

CHEONAN, KOREA – The Korean cosmetic industry now boasts a growth rate in the global market, whereas it was nascent but relied heavily on foreign materials in the 1990s. Believing in the localization of cosmetic materials through technology improvement, Bioland, a specialized company in natural products, has steadily worked at strengthening the capability of technology since its establishment in 1995. Within a few years, the company not only succeeded in supplying its products to major cosmetic companies, but also began to make a foray into global companies such as P&G, L'Oreal, and Christian Dior. Ki Ho Kim, a director of Bioland R&D Center attributed its competitiveness to its heavy investment in technology. “Around 40% of our employees are working for R&D sectors, and over 10% of total sales are invested back into R&D each year.” Attaining great success in cosmetic and functional food ingredients, they have expanded the business into bio-medicine for systems engineering, botanical drugs and vaccines, which shows a good sign of success following the involvement in the government-initiated project to develop new botanical drugs.

Cosmetic Ingredients

“Some of our cosmetic ingredients already have dominated the global market. Hyaluronic Acid (HA), Bioland’s key ingredient, has proven the world’s best quality, being exported to selective global cosmetic companies such as L'Oreal, P&G, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and LVMH,” Director Kim said. What is notable is that Oligo HA which is supplied to P&G is obtained through a new process which uses acid catalyst or enzyme following the production and refinement of HMW-HA with microbial fermentation. Testing has proven that this ingredient has profound effects in skin absorption and anti-ageing.

Portulaca extract is also well-known in the cosmetic industry for its anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy effects. In 2004, it had a good opportunity of being selected as ingredients for the nine products of Clean & Clear Advantage series from Johnson & Johnson. With the effect proven, demand from other global cosmetic companies such as Unilever and Clarins rose as well.

New Botanical Drug

The recent aspiration of Bioland is new botanical drugs. The company has been developing a natural substance – BL-153 - for dementia treatment since 2006 and recently succeeded in completing non-clinical trials through animal testing backed by the government. BL-153 was proven to control Amyloid beta protein, a cause of Alzheimer’s disease, consecutively reducing nerve cell damage and improving impaired memory. Last year, it was approved by the Korean Food & Drugs Administration (KFDA) to go through clinical trial phase II. To spur the natural substance sector, Bioland newly built a plant in Osong Bio-Valley, and it received BGMP (Bulk Good Manufacturing Practice) from KFDA this May. They have now secured the infrastructure to lead the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) market worth USD 100 million a year.

Bioland Goes Global

“Upholding its core value – Nature, Science, and Life, we are aiming to enrich lives with substances from nature. The company already holds over 50% of the share in the domestic market with natural substances, and in the past few years successfully made inroads into overseas market. The mere 1% export in total sales in 2002 jumped to over 20%, reaching USD 10 million in 2011. Last month, the company announced its plan to invest around USD 2.5 million in setting up a manufacturing plant in China by 2013, following the set-up of the subsidiary in Shanghai in 2006. The news garnered great attention from investors, showing a 5% jump in the KOSDAQ market. Once completed, Bioland is capable of producing cosmetic ingredients worth USD 50 million in sales per year. “We will make unceasing efforts for the creation of plentiful life through natural substance, “he said.