Suizenji Nori Blue-Green Algae New Key Indoor Cultivation Tech Unlocks Stable, Scalable Algaculture for Delivering SACRAN™ Moisture-Retention Effect for More Ethical and More Sustainable Cosmetics and Skincare Products DIC leverages world-class algae cultivation tech, expanding health, personal care offerings

Tokyo, Japan—DIC Corporation and biotech startup Green Science Materials, Inc. (GSM) expand their collaboration on Suizenji Nori blue-green algae and SACRAN™ polysaccharide extract, developing Suizenji Nori indoor mass cultivation technology needed to deliver the stable production of SACRAN™ required for global scale. This vital leap in algaculture technology offers cosmetics makers an opportunity to ethically enhance the sustainability of skincare products to meet increasing consumer demand for ethical and sustainable products.

DIC Health Care Business Unit Manager, Ph.D. Naoto Sakurai notes, “Our collaboration combines GSM basic research with DIC Spirulina mass production experience to develop successful Suizenji Nori mass cultivation technology. We expect Suizenji Nori to secret SACRAN more efficiently in the ideal cultivation environment, allowing us to secure the meaningful production levels needed to significantly impact the sustainability of consumer products.”

Facing global challenges, many consumers are rapidly growing environmentally conscious, increasingly demanding more ethical and more sustainable skincare and cosmetics products.

Naoto Sakurai says, “Moving forward, we’ll be able to deliver SACRAN-based materials for the cosmetics industry globally. And as we continue improving efficiency, further reducing production costs, and scaling up Suizenji Nori cultivation more than several ten tons, we’ll expand into applications beyond cosmetics, like textiles, medical products and supplements.”

DIC Managing Executive Officer and New Business Development Headquarters General Manager Kiyofumi Takano notes, “By increasing our collaborations with and investments in leading-edge biotech startups, DIC is rapidly advancing our push toward delivering sustainable prosperity on a global scale. We hope the new materials we develop using our advanced algae cultivation knowledge and technologies will soon be utilized for various applications exceeding traditionally synthetic compounds.”

As protecting biodiversity is a major initiative at DIC, DIC and GSM will use their Suizenji Nori cultivation technology and research to promote conservation of the Kogane River (Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture), the only natural environment for Suizenji Nori habitat. Furthermore, GSM will actively promote initiatives expanding outdoor algaculture in nearby Mashiki Town by utilizing our achievement.

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DIC Corporation is one of the world’s leading fine chemicals companies and the core of the DIC Group, a multinational organization comprising over 190 companies around the globe, including Sun Chemical Corporation, in more than 60 countries and territories. The DIC Group is recognized as a global leader in the markets for a variety of products essential to modern lifestyles, including packaging materials, display materials such as those used in television and computer displays, and high-performance materials for smartphones and other digital devices, as well as for automobiles. Through such products, the Group endeavors to deliver safety and peace of mind, and color and comfort, to people everywhere. The DIC Group also seeks to contribute to a sustainable society by developing innovative products that respond to social change and which help address social imperatives. With annual consolidated net sales exceeding ¥800 billion and 22,000-plus employees worldwide, we pledge to continue working in close cooperation with our customers wherever they are. Please visit our website for more details: https://www.dic-global.com/

GSM endeavors to achieve the sustainable future of Suizenji Nori blue-green algae—cyanobacteria indigenous only to Japan. By enhancing the mass-cultivation of this precious cyanobacteria, GSM seeks to promote Suizenji Nori for use in a broad range of applications beyond edible seaweed. As many university studies continue exploring novel applications of Suizenji Nori, GSM has already successfully established a method to produce a stable supply of high-quality SACRAN™—a polysaccharide extracted from Suizenji Nori—with commercial applications. To balance demand and supply, GSM has established a cultivation site for the mass cultivation of Suizenji Nori, reducing costs, and protecting this indigenous Japanese cyanobacterium from extinction. SACRAN™ is a safe biomaterial that can be safely used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biomedical due to its unique properties. GSM is dedicated to the sustainable supply of SACRAN™.　https://www.gsmi.co.jp/ (Japanese language site)

Press Contact:
DIC Corporate Communications Department:dic-press@ma.dic.co.jp

Commercial Contact:
New Business Development HQ, Health Care Business Unit:dich-1sacran@ma.dic.co.jp