Shiseido gains pioneering skincare technology with acquisition of Olivo Laboratories

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jan 12, 2018

Shiseido Company, Ltd. announced this Friday that its American subsidiary, Shiseido Americas Corporation, has acquired Olivo Laboratories, LLC and its revolutionary "Second Skin" technology, in a deal which promises to drive innovation in the skincare industry. 

As part of the agreement, Olivo’s research and development team will be joining Shiseido Americas. It is hoped that by combining Olivo’s pioneering technology with Shiseido’s research and development capacity, the brands will be able to push progress in the new field of “skin shape correction”, and develop truly innovative skin and suncare products that dry instantly and offer enhanced results.
 
Olivo specializes in applying propriety biomaterials technology to the field of dermatology. According to the startup’s website, its cross-linking polymer layer (XPLTM) “Second Skin” technology forms an “invisible, breathable, elastic, occlusive, long-lasting film on skin.”

In a statement, President and CEO of Shiseido Masahiko Uotani stated “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,” adding “Olivo’s ground-breaking ‘Second Skin’ technology will join Shiseido’s already robust innovation portfolio”.
 
Dr. Robert Langer, Co-Founder of Olivo, also commented, “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.”
 
Olivo is a Polaris Partners-backed, Massachusetts-based startup founded in 2015 by renowned scientists such as Dr. Robert Langer of the 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. Its current CEO is  Amy Schulman of Polaris Partners.
 
The acquisition is the most recent move in a string of initiatives undertaken by Shiseido and its Global Innovation Center as the Japanese personal-care brand attempts to revolutionize the beauty industry. In November of last year, Shiseido Americas also acquired Giaran, Inc., a data company known for its artificial intelligence platforms. A statement released at the time reported that Shiseido would put the brand’s technological knowhow to work on customizing consumer experience.
 
Details of the transaction between Shiseido and Olivo were not disclosed.