We transform naturally occurring biopolymers into a new format ("smart materials") so that their full potential can be harnessed for highly innovative medical devices and cosmetic applications. Our products are not only sustainable and environmentally friendly, but also help to overcome unmet medical needs. In the meantime, we have already launched five products in the cosmetics and food sectors.

SolyPlus GmbH, founded in Berlin in 2017, is a start-up biotechnology company based in Haselund, Nordfriesland, since 2020.

SolyPlus technology makes it possible to improve numerous products and develop new ones forcosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medtech use. We are a team of experienced experts dedicated to developing new sustainable products to overcome unmet medical needs for a healthier future.

At the end of 2017, Richard Andersen (Head of Operations), Dr. Elena Maltseva (Head of Laboratory) and Dr. Andreas Voigt (Head of Science) started the company SolyPlus GmbH in Berlin. Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günter Afting, formerly Head of R&D at Hoechst, participated financially as an additional shareholder in 2018. After changing company`s headquarters to Schleswig-Holstein, Dr. Joachim Bender came on board as managing director and Ralph Böttcher as external tax consultant and shareholder.

 

Biopolymers such as hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan are of great importance for cosmetic and medical applications. However, the potential of these substances has so far only been exploited to a limited extent because the technology for industrial processing was not available. If, for example, one tries to dissolve commercially available hyaluronic acid powder in water, depending on the molecule size mixture used, a highly viscous mass is formed from as little as 1 to 2%, which cannot be further processed industrially. This is also the reason why the hyaluronic acid content in common skin care cosmetic products hardly exceeds 1.5%.

SolyPlus has overcome this bottleneck with its disruptive platform technology, which allows such and also other biopolymers to be converted from their powder form into so-called "smart materials" (microparticles, films, gels, hard solids) and then processed like wood or plastic. This opens the door to completely new products. Corresponding patents have already been granted in the USA and Europe as well as in India, and applications have also been filed in a number of economically strong countries. Patent protection guarantees sustainable competitive advantages.

          

Pictured: Various SolyPlus prototypes for numerous use cases.

Chitosan is a fungal biopolymer with strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. In order to use this property as additional protection against viral infections (including coronaviruses) in the oral pharynx, we looked for dosage forms that would keep chitosan in the mouth for as long as possible, e.g. chewing gums and candies. Chitosan-containing chewing gums and candies were developed and brought to market in cooperation with specialist companies from the food industry (GoBeDo GmbH and Heller & Strauss GmbH). We are also currently developing chitosan sprays together with the companies Ursatec GmbH (developer) and Förde Ventures GmbH (financier). The entire program includes nasal, throat and skin sprays with development costs of approximately € 2.5 million. These medical products are expected to enter the human market in 2024. The hobby animal market can also benefit from these hygiene sprays, especially because Förde Ventures, through its chief executive, Volker Haak, has close ties with the local hobby animal company Trixie Heimtierbedarf GmbH & Co. KG in Tarp.

      

Pictured: Chitosan-containing chewing gum and chitosan-containing candies (from left to right).

 

Another example of the application of our technology is the use of hyaluronic acid for cosmetics and medical deices in the form of defined microparticles, films, microneedles and implants with significant product benefits, which was not possible before. Our first cosmetic product "Hyalu-Pearls" contains 1.7% of a particularly strong water-binding hyaluronic acid, which would correspond to a normal hyaluronic acid of approx. 5%. Hyalu-Pearls uses hard hyaluronic acid microparticles as an exfoliating element, thus combining the exfoliating effect with the skin care effect in a brilliant way. Our second product, "Hyalu-Pearls 10%", even contains 10% hyaluronic acid (mass/ml), which is a world first. Both products can be used as a exfoliation and anti-wrinkle agent with high effectiveness. An Aloe Vera Gel is planned to follow in summer 2022 to expand our cosmetic line (SolyPure Cosmetics).

                    

Pictured: Application of Hyalu-Pearls, Hyalu-Pearls, Hyalu-Pearls 10%, Aloe Vera Gel (from left to right).

Pictured: Microneedles magnified 70x, 450x magnified, microneedle pad (from left to right).

 

The scope of application of SolyPlus technology is not limited to the development of medical and cosmetic products or the aforementioned hyaluronic acid. The most diverse areas of application, e.g. in agriculture, 3D printing technology, ski wax improvement, lubricant developments, internal coating of gloves and booties, etc. are also conceivable.

SolyPlus' basic technology and application areas are broadly protected by 5 patent families (plus patent family relating to chitosan). The basic patent has already been granted in USA and Europe as well as two additional application patents in USA and India. This enables SolyPlus to develop completely new products that did not exist before due to the non-existing manufacturing technology. Examples are the microneedles, wound dressings and implants made of pure hyaluronic acid with significant product advantages.

 

Pictured: SolyPlus prototypes for numerous use cases

SolyPlus is the thinktank that demonstrates the feasibility of new innovative products. The development of such products up to market maturity, as well as the approval and marketing are carried out by our licensees. We participate in the subsequent market success of the products through upfront and milestone payments as well as royalties. This applies to the dosage forms containing chitosan (chewing gums, candies, teas and soon also nasal, throat and skin sprays).

This concept enables rapid upscaling with manageable fixed costs.

The cosmetic products mentioned above are sold through the Amazon FBA Platform and our own webshop by our own cosmetic brand (SolyPure Cosmetics). In order to increase our sales, we have engaged suitable agencies in Germany and US in January 2022.

Since SolyPlus' basic technology enables product innovations in many different areas, the target markets can only be roughly outlined by way of examples.

 

Cosmetics

The skin and facial care market in Germany recorded a volume of just under € 3.2 billion in 2021, with slight declines compared with the previous year but overall positive average growth rates over the past 5 years. Since we cannot compete with the market giants such as L'Oréal, Douglas, Medipharma Cosmetics, etc. for shelf space in pharmacies or drugstores, we have chosen the Amazon FBA platform in Germany and the USA for our main target group (men and women between the age of 20 and 60). In addition, we distribute these products via our own webshop (www.solypure-cosmetics.com) and are looking for appropriate co-marketing/co-promotion partners.

 

Chitosan products (chewing gums, candies)

As SolyPlus sees itself as a think tank for new technologies and derived products, we leave further development steps and marketing to our licensees. Both products were approved as food in DACH and UK in 2021. However, the data from the POC study now allows for a more progressive promotion and thus increasing sales figures. In the face of the ongoing pandemic and new waves of influenza each year, sales of €1.1 billion for cold and cough remedies (Germany 2021) will continue to increase. Combination products such as Grippostad C, Aspirin Complex, Boxagrippal or Wick Medinait mostly relieve the side effects, but not the viral infections themselves. We therefore see good opportunities for our nutraceuticals containing chitosan to make a significant contribution here, which will manifest itself in corresponding sales figures or royalties for SolyPlus.

 

HA wound dressings, HA microneedles, HA implants

The market volume for special wound care products on the German pharmacy market amounted to almost € 600 million in 2018. With a market share of 5%, special wound dressings account for almost 50% of sales (around € 280 million). With a sales share of 42%, hydroactive wound dressings are the most frequently sold product group and generated sales of €145 million. The global market for wound care products will reach a volume of US$ 39.4 billion in 2022. An extraordinary advantage of SolyPlus wound dressings is their unique, healing-supporting mode of operation: a truly unique selling proposition. Unlike all other known wound dressings, which essentially ensure sterility of the wound, SolyPlus wound dressings intervene in a very beneficial way in the healing processes in the sense of catalyzing them.

 

Microneedles

The global needle market reached nearly US$ 6 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 6.6%. The global needle-free injection market is estimated to be worth US$ 25 million in 2023, with annual growth of 15% between 2021 and 2023. Experts valued the global micro-needle market segment at US$ 400 million in 2012. Highly potent vaccines and biologicals (market potential of US$ 150 - 200 billion) in particular would benefit from this form of application.

 

Hyaluronic acid implants

Unfortunately, there are very few official figures on the burden on the German healthcare system of costs associated with the removal of metallic or ceramic implantation materials. According to statistics, the number of open reductions of multi-fragment fractures is more than 220,000 in 2020, and it is estimated that bone replacement is necessary in about 15% of skeletal system surgeries. This would translate to 33,000 surgeries costing approximately € 2,000 - 4,000 per procedure. SolyPlus' hyaluronic acid implants could save between € 66 - 132 million, without taking into account the material costs saved and reduced sick days.

In 2020/21, SolyPlus finalized two small financing rounds totaling € 1.759 million (MBG-SH, IK-SH, FunderNation). The plan was that the sales of our first cosmetic product ("Hyalu-Pearls") would finance the development of further products. Since, for a variety of reasons, the sales figures of this product have remained significantly below plan, but we do not want to delay the further development of the medical products, we have decided to launch a second digital financing round. The capital raised is intended to enable the market expansion of the cosmetic products, to extend and secure the patents and to support the business development (business development for the medical products).

With the new financing round, SolyPlus is now also opening up to investments by business angels in order to enter the medical technology market with the already existing prototypes.

Product development

SolyPlus has managed to launch 5 products in the last 2.5 years:

• 2 cosmetic products (Hyalu-Pearls and Hyalu-Pearls 10%)
• 3 nutraceuticals containing chitosan: chewing gums, candies teas

In addition, a term sheet was signed with the companies Ursatec and Förde Ventures, which regulates the development and marketing of chitosan sprays in such a way that SolyPlus does not bear any costs but participates in the success via milestone payments and revenue shares without having to give up company shares. Further cooperations with German and US companies are about to be concluded.

 

Patent portfolio

In addition, several applications were added to the patent portfolio.

 

Financing

In March 2020, a first round of financing was successfully concluded:

• Participation of the State of Schleswig-Holstein by MBG (Mittelstands-Beteiligungsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein mbH | Silent partnership on 03/16/2020 | T€ 250
• Investitions-Bank-SH on 31.03.2020 | T€ 250 | Backing with guarantees by two shareholders
• Digital financing with FunderNation at the end of 2020: T€ 509
• Silent partnership of MBG in 2021: T€ 750

 

Distribution and media impact

• March 2022: Berliner Sonntagsblatt (GoBeDo chewing gum)
• Appearance and distribution at Channel21

• Scalable and broadly patented technology with high potential for numerous innovative products that were previously not industrially manufacturable
• Five products based on the technology to be launched in 2020 to 2022, one more to be offered soon
• World firsts in cosmetics (disruptive technology)
• Serious licensing negotiations that will lead to deals before the end of 2022
• Economical and effective use of financial resources