18 INTERVIEW
traceable through blockchain technology. TP: How is Vytrus scaling up its manufacturing to meet the increased demand for its products? OE: Our system is versatile to grow quickly depending on demand. With a few square metres, we can produce many tonnes of ingredients with our bioreactors. We are proud of our
bioreactors. When we started making ingredients, there were either industrial scale bioreactors or R&D lab scale bioreactors. Nothing in the middle. So, we developed our own
bioreactors in order to be able to be clean, quick, adaptable and scalable. Not many can say that. However, we are thinking of
moving to another site to expand our facilities and be ready for the future. It is possible that in, for example, two years we will have maxed out our existing facilities.
TP: Still in Barcelona? OE: Yes, in Barcelona. It is very important for our team. Our team is our treasure. We want to move but many
of our team walk, cycle or take the train. It is a challenge for us to move to a bigger site while maintaining the quality of life for our workers.
TP: How many do you employ now? OE: 44.
TP: So, you haven’t made any firm plans to move? OE: We are starting to work on plans for moving. We need to be ready for the future.
TP: Turning to sales, what is your business model? Do you use distributors or just sell directly? OE: We are actively selling in around 35 countries; we have distribution in around 60 countries. This year is the first year we are
selling directly in France, which can be a challenging market. We have also decided to sell directly in the United States. The results have been pretty
good, but distributors also work well for us and we will continue to collaborate with them in the future.
TP: In the terms of the wider industry and the bigger picture, are there any industry trends you see, or expect to see in future? OE: With artificial intelligence,
PERSONAL CARE October 2025
“In the future, cosmetics will be kept in the fridge with no preservatives.
They will have a shorter shelf life, but they will be healthier for the skin” Òscar Expósito, co-founder and chief scientific officer, Vytrus Biotech
we are accelerating the use of biotechnology to make lab grown or lab-originated ingredients that have a natural structure but are not using natural resources. I see recombinant proteins,
recombinant collagen, recombinant hyaluronic acid, many production systems based in bacteria, based in fungi or even synthetic enzymes. You have in silico systems that are able to produce aromas, enzymes, different molecules. I think in future, in the near future, we will see recombinant proteins. Because of climate change
and scarcity of natural resources, it will be increasingly important to produce natural molecules in the lab without plants, but with bacteria and fungi. For me, this is a very clear trend
for the future. Biotechnology and synthetic biology have an excellent future because they allow humans to obtain much more with much less impact on the natural world.
TP: It seems a company called Vytrus Biotechnology is ideally placed for that future! OE: I think so. There are amazing new technologies to be developed for the skin. For each cell in the human body, you have ten bacteria, and for each bacterium, you have ten viruses. I think, in the future, with all
these bacteriophages, we will see some very nice technology to
express proteins and control the skin microbiota. I’m absolutely certain that the skin microbiome is a major trend.
TP: Are there any other trends you foresee? OE: Preservatives. Preservatives are a big elephant in the room that nobody wants to speak about. We put a lot of preservatives
in creams and lotions, and it’s described that we have a lot of microorganisms that are affected by these preservatives. In the future, cosmetics will
be kept in the fridge with no preservatives. They will have a shorter shelf life, but they will be healthier for the skin.
TP: Fresh cosmetics, like a pint of milk? OE: Everybody knows that the healthiest food is fresh food, not processed food. OK, cosmetics are not essential like food, but the cosmetics industry is in the privileged position of being able to invest time and money to develop this technology.
TP: Is it realistic for the major brands from L’Oreal, Estee Lauder et al to produce fresh cosmetics to be kept in the fridge like yogurt? OE: We may well see a trend for dry powder ingredients, which are reconstituted by the user and are
then kept in the fridge for two or three days, maybe a week. This is already happening with pharmaceuticals. Many pharmaceuticals are sold as dry powder. Antibiotics, for example. They are manufactured, stored and sent as dry powder to be reconstituted. And then it’s active for a few days. We are looking at this at Vytrus
Biotech. We believe strongly that cosmetic technology should advance to be more healthy and more powerful for our skin.
TP: Absolutely fascinating. OK, final question. As co-founder and chief executive of Vytrus Biotech, is there anything that keeps you up at night with worry? OE: Innovation is quite challenging nowadays, because if you want to make a recombinant organism, you cannot do it with GMOs. But GMOs are excellent tools, and they can give us more options to develop the sustainable solutions of the future. So, regulation is one of the
challenges. I’m president of the Spanish Association of Cosmetic Ingredients (AEIC) and we often speak about the need for regulation to be more flexible and more open to allow the industry to be more innovative, more efficacious and safer. For biotechnology innovation, the regulation is rather anachronistic.
PC
www.personalcaremagazine.com
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