16 INTERVIEW Tim Probert – Editor, Personal Care Global


Erika Milczek is founder and chief executive of Curie Co, a US industrial biotech outfit that develops engineered enzymes to displace petrochemical- based preservatives. As part of this issue’s focus on preservatives, Erika discusses the potential of engineered enzymes in personal care


Tim Probert (TP): Why did you found Curie Co? Erika Milczek (EM): Our mission is to replace petrochemicals with equally affordable and effective biomaterials in everyday products and processes. We focus on the ‘equally affordable and effective’ part of that statement because we don’t believe there should be a cost premium paid on a healthy planet or personal health. Petrochemicals is a big and


pretty audacious market to go after. So, we are focused initially on preservation. We love the field of preservatives, because quite frankly, they’re absolutely everywhere whether consumers realise it or not. They’re in the foods we eat and the products in our bathrooms, from cosmetics to body wash. We knew that creating


sustainable solutions in preservation is where we could have a big impact. So we are laser focused on preservatives. There are a number of reasons for that, from regulatory pressure around the globe to consumer pressure and different retail tailwinds.


TP: How long have you been established and what is the background of Curie? EM: Since 2017. I started my career in pharma at Merck, and I’m a


process chemist by training. While I was there, I saw


beautiful technology related to next-generation antibiotics and different types of antimicrobial applications that could be leveraged in applications other than drugs. I decided to start Curie Co


because around the same time, there was a series of bans from the FDA on antimicrobials in soap and hand sanitizers, surgical scrubs, you name it, it was pretty aggressive. So, I saw that there was an opportunity for new antimicrobial molecules on the market, and then I spent a year in customer interviews trying to understand where the actual problem was. I settled on preservation as, frankly, it’s a huge opportunity.


TP: What are your products, in a nutshell? EM: We have a number of different technologies and a portfolio of enzymes that have exquisite antimicrobial behaviour. What we’re launching first is an enzyme preservative product called CuraVia. The reason we love enzymes so much is because they’re catalysts, which allow us to deliver a catalytic preservative at a competitive price point.


INTERVIEW


Doing more with less


TP: How are they made? EM: Our enzymes are made through microbial fermentation. They’re all derived from renewable carbon- based feedstocks, from sugar to glycerol to other things. We partner with contract manufacturers so that we can keep our expenses low.


TP: How long does it take to make? EM: Not long. From start to finish, I would say we have about five days in our manufacturing process: the fermentation, purification, and validation. We can very quickly make large batches.


TP: What would the enzymes be replacing exactly? EM: We benchmark off phenoxyethanol because it’s a great preservative and used globally. It can work at neutral pH, it’s broad spectrum, and it’s affordable. When we came to the market, we wanted to benchmark against something that was widely accepted and meet those metrics. We’re about a one-in-100


replacement. So, one tonne of our enzyme could displace about 100 tonnes of phenoxyethanol.


PERSONAL CARE July 2023 www.personalcaremagazine.com


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