Over $500 billion in cosmetics and personal care industries worldwide are increasingly turning to biomanufacturing as a sustainable and scalable solution to produce key ingredients. According to market research firm Grand View Research, the global bio-based cosmetics market is expected to grow at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% through 2030, due to consumer demand for sustainable ethical products.
Manus, a bioortant company, is working to overcome one of the major hurdles in biomanufacturing: the recovery of efficient intracellular products. We spoke with Christine Santos, Manus’ Chief Technology Officer. He shared insights into how the company’s research and development process is reshaping the production of ingredients in the sector.
Addressing key challenges in biomanufacturing
Yeast-based systems play an important role in the production of bio-based ingredients, but recovery of intracellular products remains a challenge. “Yeast is an incredible cell factory that can do complex chemicals to make many natural products,” Santos explained. But they are very strong. Their cell walls can resist internal pressures of up to 20 atmospheres.”
As a result, this poses a financial and functional challenge for extracting products that accumulate within cells, she said.
To address this, Manus is developing a new programmed lysis approach supported by Biomade’s sustainable domestic, end-to-end bioindustrial ecosystem. “We aim to outsource the work to the cells themselves, rather than using mechanical forces or chemical solvents to weaken or destroy the cell wall,” Santos said.
“Programming yeasts creates enzymes conditionally at the end of fermentation that destabilize or degrade their own cell walls,” she explained.
Another pressing concern in biomanufacturing is scalability, with Manus testing its designed yeast strains at its biofariace in Augusta, Georgia. “This kind of genetic strategy is very scalable because it is designed in cell factories rather than relying on specialized processing equipment,” Santos shared.
“During this work, we will be testing cell factories designed on pilot scales (300L fermenters),” she explained.
Cosmetics and impact on personal care
Programmed dissolution approaches can have significant benefits, especially for lipid-soluble natural products such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, triacylglycerides, terpenes, sterol esters, and retinols, and especially for cosmetic and personal care industries. “In addition, the production of peptides that are not secreted as well as collagen can benefit greatly from this approach,” Santos pointed out.
Strengthening recovery methods also improve cost-effectiveness and sustainability. “Improved recovery reduces the cost of production for consumers, increases conversion yields from raw materials, and reduces chemical and energy usage during downstream processing,” she said. “All of these have direct sustainability and cost benefits for the personal care industry and its consumers.”
Sustainability and regulatory considerations
Eliminating or reducing the use of solvents in component recovery has significant environmental benefits. “It will require less environmental burden on production, which requires raw materials such as oil and intense heat and energy, and reduce the environmental risks of the associated health, safety and operation of processes and facilities that require use.
From a regulatory perspective, bioortants are consistent with existing frameworks. “By following excellent manufacturing practices (GMP), safety assessment protocols and ingredient transparency requirements established by regulatory bodies, BioAltel enables the production of high purity, sustainable, and well-characterized ingredients that meet strict, sustainable, and effectiveness standards.”
Therefore, for cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers and suppliers, advances in product formulation bioaltanation are attractive options for those seeking to reduce their environmental impact and meet evolving regulatory standards.
Future outlook and industrial integration
Beyond the recovery of ingredients, this technology offers new market opportunities. Santos, for example, explained: “Large biomanufacturers can sell co-products of yeast biomass as animal feeds, which are often sold based on accessible protein content and are particularly useful for applications such as aquaculture, which require high protein content feeds.”
Going forward, Manus will focus on piloting and integration of this technology. “At the end of this project (2026), we will pilot our technology up to 300L fermentation scales and acquire performance data for yeasts designed for cell lysis,” Santos concluded. “We look forward to partnering with Biomaid to make pilot trials available to stakeholders within the bio-manufacturing community.”
