SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX) initiated a two-year research programme with the University of Manchester to identify new potential treatments and products targeting inflammation.
The formulations will use microbiome technology to regulate responses to a “range of environmental challenges”.
The human microbiome is an ecosystem of bacteria found in the gut and on the skin that plays an important role in well-being.
Drugs are currently being developed that interact with the gut microbiome to treat diabetes, obesity and cancer.
The Manchester team will focus on the body's response to inflammation in skin health and skin disease.
The company said one opportunity lies with sunscreen following 2019 US regulatory guidance to remove two common ingredients from cosmetics and lotions - aminobenzoic acid and trolamine salicylate.
The Food & Drug Administration is in the process of evaluating further safety data on 12 others widely used additives.
This “has created a need within the sunscreen and cosmetics industries for more naturally derived ingredients that could support the body's immune-inflammatory response to different environmental challenges," the company said.
The idea of the Manchester collaboration is to find products ripe for commercialisation that have potential similar to the company’s AxisBiotix food supplement.
“We hope to eventually bring immune-supporting microbiome formulations to market through everyday products, such as skin lotions and creams, where we see an increasing consumer preference for natural ingredients,” said chief executive Stuart Ashman.
“This is an exciting new area of research for us and has the potential to broaden our skin health pipeline further."
The work will be funded from the proceeds of last autumn’s placing and open offer of new shares.