Natural exposure through everyday cosmetics — Kiilto and Uute Scientific Oy join forces
Kiilto has agreed on collaboration with Uute Scientific Oy. The idea is to study how health-promoting, everyday natural exposure can be incorporated into Kiilto's consumer products.
Studies have shown that multiple microbial exposures protect humans from autoimmune diseases and illnesses, including allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, celiac disease, type 1 diabetes and many intestinal problems. In practice, multiple microbial exposures means daily contact with nature.
Uute Scientific Oy, which grew out of the ADELE project between the universities of Helsinki and Tampere, produces material corresponding to the microbial community found in a rich forest environment. The material has been researched and is safe to use. By adding it to everyday products, like cosmetics, natural exposure can be made part of daily life when not otherwise possible such as in urban environments. “Ingredients are added to products to regulate immune system functions, preventing immune-mediated diseases. We have begun to explore the related potential with regard to Kiilto's consumer products,” says Hannu Leino, describing Kiilto's product development.
From research findings to product
Hanna Hirvonen, Head of Marketing in Consumer Products at Kiilto, explains that reliable research findings played a crucial role in starting their collaboration.
“We have strong product development expertise at Kiilto. The safety, quality and ecology of our products are of primary importance to us,” she concludes. “Last autumn, we launched the extremely well-received Erisan+ natural cosmetics range, which includes prebiotics to balance the skin, strengthen its natural resistance and boost its health by promoting the growth of beneficial microbes. It was a natural step to continue with R&D on increasing natural microbial exposure. Our goal is to get the first consumer products, enabling natural exposure, to the market within a couple of years,” Hirvonen adds.
Another of Uute Scientific’s founders, Olli Laitinen, (Ph.D., Docent of Molecular Virology) comments that six years of research already lie behind the product.
”We have created a new cross-disciplinary ecosystem, Immuno-ecology, which combines soil ecology and medicine. This provided the basis of our innovation,” he says.
Broad public health implications
Uute Scientific Oy was established in accordance with the University of Helsinki’s rules and processes on commercialisation. The company's trademark is Reconnecting Nature™. Helsinki Innovation Services (HIS), a university-owned company, helped the researchers to commercialise innovations.
“We now know that the problem underlying immune-mediated diseases is inadequate training of the immune system, particularly in childhood. This has led to greater frequency of immune-mediated diseases, such as allergies, asthma, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatism. There are hundreds of such diseases, which impinge on the lives of billions of people,” says Laitinen.
”We are delighted that a family business such as Kiilto – which, like us, has strong scientific expertise – is showing interest in our research.”
Further information
Hanna Hirvonen
Head of Marketing, Kiilto
hanna.hirvonen@kiilto.fi
Tel. 040 7326 543
www.kiilto.fi
Olli Laitinen
Chief Science Officer, Co-Founder, Uute Scientific Oy
olli.laitinen@uutescientific.com
Tel. 050 3427 273
www.uutescientific.com
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