TOKYO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shiseido Company, Limited (TOKYO:4911) (“Shiseido”), a leading global
cosmetics company, announced today that its regional headquarters and
consolidated subsidiary, Shiseido Americas Corporation (“Shiseido
Americas”), has acquired substantially all of the assets of Olivo
Laboratories, LLC (“Olivo”). Olivo is a Polaris Partners-backed
Massachusetts-based startup advancing the dermatological field through
proprietary biomaterials technology, including its pioneering XPLTM*
“Second Skin” technology. The CEO is Polaris Partner Amy Schulman. Terms
of the transaction were not disclosed.
*Cross-linking Polymer Layer
Olivo’s patented approach creates a breathable, flexible and nearly
invisible artificial skin, that offers a number of benefits previously
unachievable through traditional cosmetics or even cosmetic surgery.
Olivo was founded by renowned scientists including Dr. Robert Langer*,
David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Dr. Rox Anderson, Head of the Wellman Center of
Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Dan Anderson,
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. The Olivo research and development team will join the
Shiseido Americas organization as part of the transaction.
* Dr.
Langer received more than 220 awards including the Charles Stark Draper
Prize, United States National
Medal of Science, Queen
Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and the 2014 Kyoto Prize.
This acquisition is the latest in a series of initiatives supported by Shiseido and its Global Innovation Center to further expand its global beauty innovation footprint. Combining Olivo's innovative technology with Shiseido’s research and development capabilities marks a significant leap forward in the emerging realm of "skin shape correction,” and paves the way for the development of products that provide instant and significantly enhanced skincare and suncare.
Masahiko Uotani, President and CEO of Shiseido, said, “Our transaction with Olivo is an exciting next step in our ongoing pursuit to create entirely new categories of beauty products at a global scale as a part of our VISION 2020, middle to long term strategy. Olivo’s ground-breaking ‘Second Skin’ technology will join Shiseido’s already robust innovation portfolio, which includes the personalization technology startup MATCHCo, the artificial intelligence-empowered beauty company Giaran, and our own Shiseido-developed OPTUNE, a digital, personalized skincare platform. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues at Olivo and benefiting from the expertise of Dr. Langer as we continue to reinvent the beauty industry and to create new products tailored to each of our customers’ unique and personal ideals of beauty.”
Dr. Robert Langer, Co-Founder of Olivo, stated, “We use science to break down and tackle problems. Here, we were able to really solve a pervasive problem and create a platform with novel biomaterials. Shiseido provides an exciting opportunity to continue executing on that mission and to further demonstrate the many capabilities of our XPL platform. We look forward to the future when we unlock the XPL Second Skin’s full potential across a range of different applications.”
Amy Schulman, CEO of Olivo, noted that, “We are delighted to work with Shiseido, a company that has the vision, resources and talent to be pioneers in beauty science and to create a new standard for skincare in the beauty industry.”
Marc Rey, President and CEO of Shiseido Americas, added, “As the evolution of beauty-dedicated technologies continues apace, it becomes increasingly important for companies like Shiseido Group to take an external view when it comes to innovation and product development. By joining forces with leaders in scientific research like Dr. Langer and the Olivo team, we will continue to meet the demands of the consumer while offering the very latest advances in science and beauty.”
About Shiseido Company, Limited
Shiseido was founded in 1872
as the first Western-style pharmacy in Japan. The business gradually
evolved into a cosmetics company, offering people the most advanced
technology and the finest aesthetics available in the East or the West.
Now, known globally as the premier cosmetics company with roots in Japan
the name Shiseido has come to represent the world’s highest standard of
quality in beauty. Shiseido’s global selection of skincare, makeup and
fragrance includes a high-performance category for special skincare, and
a brightening line. Shiseido offers products for professional beauty
salons and hairdressers, as well as body care, suncare and a skincare
line for men. Fiercely contemporary and innovative with over 140 years
in business, the Shiseido group brands are now sold in over 120
countries. For more information, please visit http://group.shiseido.com/.
About Olivo Laboratories, LLC
Olivo Laboratories was founded
to answer the unmet needs in the dermatological field, providing
solutions for skin-related medical conditions, through the development
of proprietary biomaterials technologies. Spun out of “Living Proof” in
2015, the company seeks to create benchmark solutions through perfectly
engineered products that focus on the skin’s medical and cosmetic
problems.
