Hexislab’s in-silico skincare discovery platform and collaboration with Newcastle University provides a perfect solution for natural & organic skincare product innovation for clients interested in evidence-based skincare solutions with a clear point-of-difference. The Hexislab approach will enable clients to create niche, evidence-based brands to challenge the known brands, thus positioning Hexislab as an expert partner for natural & organic skincare innovation.

Modern Cosmetics are full of ingredients from petroleum products and exotic plants. HLL is trying to change that by manufacturing these sustainably through engineering biology. This project funding will allow HLL to develop a scaled-up circular biomanufacturing process in the Tees Valley, contributing to the region's ambition of becoming the world's first Net Zero industrial cluster by 2040\. Funding will enable HLL to realise its goal as a manufacturer of high-value biochemicals using organic waste products coming from agricultural and marine waste as feedstock. The global beauty market is expected to grow from $483bn to $784bn by 2025, with nearly 70% of consumers demanding tailored and sustainable green products. The pharmaceutical lipid market is estimated to have a value of $100bn by 2028, growing at a rate of 7% annually, driven by the need for nanoparticles for vaccine and drug delivery. We aim to generate revenue from using our cellular platform and manufacturing process after securing significant investment to build a manufacturing facility in Teesside valley Industrial Zone, two years after the completion of this project. The project is pioneering and unlikely to be funded by private investors at this stage of development. Funding for this project will move the TRL from 5 to 7, making it attractive for private investment. With a fully developed platform, the project will deliver 24 new high-value ingredients for the cosmetic/pharmaceutical sector produced sustainably with estimated revenue of £100m in year 5, creating between 20 to 30 jobs in Tees valley and empowering a new global supply chain for the beauty, personal care, and pharmaceutical market right here in the UK. Deliverables from TU and HLL will be to demonstrate the scale-up of high-value ingredients such as cell signalling lipopeptides Matrikines, xanthones, biosurfactants (Fengecyin, Surfactin) and lipids which are not commercially obtainable through synthetic chemistry. It will assure potential customers and investors that we can manufacture at scale, de-risking the tech process and enabling us to engage with larger corporations. Provide pilot scale materials for customer testing, formulation, and evaluation. The process will enable the creation of process IP for designing, optimising, and producing novel materials for the global industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving the new industrial revolution and becoming a reliable source for identifying high-value materials in the personal care, pharmaceutical industry and chemical industry in general. During our previous funding from innovate UK (Application number: 112187-650205) the company developed an innovative process with accompanying software for identifying sustainable new materials from marine products. The high-value material identified has been tested and validated in experimental assay, compounds having significant Senolytic and Senomorrphic effect via NkfB inhibition, counteracting the effects of skin inflammation and skin ageing. Following successful prototyping of Hexislab's proprietary AI platform, HexisPro.X, this project aims to consolidate the use of HexisPro.X for identifying materials in personal care applications and also to further develop the discovery platform for new vertical markets in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The current platform and process used for identifying natural and bio-derived cosmetic ingredients to replace more harmful and fossil-derived ingredients platform has generated significant interest from a number of blue-chip cosmetics organisations. It's now being used commercially through service contracts with HLL by a leading global cosmetics company in the EU and USA. The intention is now to build on the success with this cornerstone customer to further enhance the functionality of the AI platform in the cosmetics market and to use the market research to identify innovative product enhancements for future inclusion.

The aim of this project is to develop a novel AI-guided process that enables the discovery & development of naturally derived marine ingredients for use in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry to improve health and wellbeing. This process will drive the advanced manufacturing and commercialisation of high-value marine derived products. HexisLab Limited UK in partnership with Croda Canada (a subsidiary of Croda plc) will validate and prioritise the high-value materials identified by HexisLab proprietary AI-based discovery platform (HexisProX) for commercial production.

To determine efficient process and assay testing methodology for characterising natural bioactive compounds that can reduce the effects of UV sun and pollution damage on the skin, and to develop a prototype skincare composition that can reduce the effects on the skin.