New solution developed by a Polish startup protects the skin, is environmental friendly and could change the UV filter market
In recent years, awareness of the importance of UV protection has grown significantly. Unfortunately, some UV filters that exist on the market still remain harmful to health and can cause severe allergic reactions, enter the bloodstream, or interfere with hormonal balance. What’s more, UV filter creams with non-organic formulations, once they get into the water while swimming, can affect marine pollution, destroying coral reefs (1). Thus the challenge: is it possible to produce a UV filter that is safe for human bodies and has a positive impact on the environment? Polish start-up UVera, which has developed a novel way to protect human skin from ultraviolet rays, provides an answer. In an episode of the Coopernicus podcast with Dr. Magdalena Jander, CEO of UVera, we learn more about this solution.
Innovation of the UVera solution
In this episode, Dr. Magdalena Jander reveals what sets the UVera solution apart from other UV protectors available on the market. The substance produced by cyanobacteria is non-invasive to the environment, safe for humans, and most importantly, it protects against UV radiation and is stable. In addition, a by-product of the metabolic cycle of cyanobacteria that produces the UV-protective substance is oxygen. In other words, industrial-scale production should have a negative carbon footprint. It’s hard to find a more “green” solution.
In this episode of our podcast, you can not only learn about the history of the development of this solution, the specifics of the UV filter market, a broad view of the impact on the environment, health, but also the stages of development of the startup. Startup UVera is growing very fast. It has been awarded the EIT Health InnoStars Award 2019, the EIC Accelerator “Green Deal” grant 2020, the EIT Health Catapult Award 2020, and was also a finalist in the Social Innovation Tournament 2021 organized by the European Investment Bank. The startup is currently raising another €3 million and plans to expand globally to launch the product in Europe and the US in 2023.
It is worth following the further development of this startup. For more information, listen to the talk with its CEO and co-founder at https://linktr.ee/coopernicus.
The conversation has been recorded in Polish..
- Onepager UVera, https://uvera.eu/site/assets/files/1079/uvera_one-pager.pdf, accessed: 10.09.2022
Biotechnologist, CEO and co-founder of UVera SA, one of the most promising Polish startups, which has developed a novel way to protect human skin from UV radiation. Magdalena has extensive experience in combining science and business. She also completed postgraduate studies in “Scouting – market potential assessment of research projects” and “Leadership Academy”. – a development program led by Harvard educators and created by the Center for Leadership.
She is the recipient of two international fellowships – at Sorbonne Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris and Osaka University in Japan, where she led projects for Novartis and Sumitomo Electric Industries related to medical applications in the biotech & pharma industry.
Joanna Rancew
