L’Oréal acquires Danish research company, Lactobio

Beauty and cosmetics giant L’Oréal has announced the completion of its acquisition of Copenhagen-based probiotic and microbiome research company, Lactobio.

In what it said was a “strategic acquisition”, L’Oréal’s takeover of Lactobio looks to build on the conglomerate’s two decade long research into the microbiome category, “reinforcing [its] leadership in this field”.

The company also said that the duo would open up new scientific opportunities, such as leveraging Lactobio’s microbiome expertise to develop new cosmetic solutions using live bacteria.

In a release, Anne Colonna, global head of advanced research of L’Oréal Group, said that the integration of Lactobio was “highly complementary” to the firm’s knowledge and technological advancements.

Colonna continued: “In joining forces, we aim to develop a new generation of cosmetics that will use cutting-edge innovations in the formulation process to provide science-based, precision probiotic and postbiotic products with new performance levels.”

Founded in 2017, Lactobio has developed into a proprietary microbiome discovery platform, offering “precision probiotics” to use in the development of topical formulations containing live bacteria.

The founder of the company, Søren Kjӕrulff, said that the inspiration for the creation of Lactobio came from Denmark’s long history of innovation surrounding living microorganisms applied to food, agriculture and health.

Kjærulff, added: “I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved and excited for what the future holds as part of L’Oréal Group, where together, we can apply microbiome research to new fields of beauty innovation for people all over the world.”