Estée Lauder Companies partners with MIT to drive ingredient innovation across sun-care and biodegradable product formulations

The Estée Lauder Companies is partnering with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s renowned Langer Lab to fuel ingredient innovation.

The new long-term partnership will center around the advancement of biodegradable polymers primed to replace common personal-care ingredients found in cleansers, sun-care, cosmetics and more. The partnership will also focus on studying new solutions to help combat the effects of visible sunlight and blue light on skin.

“MIT is one of the world’s leading institutions in many fields of science, and in particular, in the invention of materials,” Carl Haney, ELC’s evp of research, product and innovation, told Glossy. MIT’s Langer Lab is overseen by Robert S. Langer, a researcher with over 1,000 patents who is often credited as the most cited engineer in history, according to the Science History Institute. Dr. Langer’s patents have been licensed or sublicensed to over 400 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies, according to MIT.

ELC’s Haney, whose background is also in chemical engineering, is a longtime fan of the Langer Lab’s ability to focus on outcome-based science. Haney told Glossy that ELC is looking for the same “breakthrough science” that MIT is known for in this new cosmetics-focused project. Early ingredient formulation advancements could become clear in as little as a few months. Haney hopes for high-quality ingredients that are sustainable, able to be used in new formulations and form factors, and can offer new benefits, he told Glossy.

The multi-year collaboration is based around a chain of molecules, or a polymer, named “degradable poly(b-amino ester) microparticles” by MIT, or “bio-polymer” for short. They are the result of decades of research at MIT. The genius of these new polymers is their ability to naturally degrade after being used. For example, they could replace molecules and polymers that are evasive or persistent in our natural ecosystem, like “forever chemicals” including 1,4-dioxane, chemical sunscreens like oxybenzone, or anything that sheds microplastics.

Ongoing studies, which are partially funded by ELC, could result in new ingredients for the cosmetics industry in just a few years, said Dr. Ana Jaklenec, principal investigator in the Langer Lab at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.