Shiseido Buys Olivo Labs

These days, it seems as if Shiseido and Unilever are in a race to acquire the most brands and companies. Shiseido has made the latest move, purchasing Olivo Laboratories LLC for an undisclosed amount.


Olivo Labs, Watertown, MA, was founded to target unmet needs in the dermatological field and provide solutions to skin-related medical conditions through proprietary biomaterials technologies. Olivo Labs’ lead technology is based on the platform initially developed at Living Proof in collaboration with Rox Anderson at The Wellman Center (Harvard-MGH), and Bob Langer and Dan Anderson at Langer Lab (MIT).


Olivo Labs' patented technology consists of two leave-on formulations that are said to spread easily, dry quickly, and, together, generate an invisible, breathable, elastic, occlusive, long-lasting film on skin. The film is designed to act as a second skin: it has a natural look, and its superior elasticity is uniquely tailored to accommodate maximum elongation for typical body movements, even in difficult areas such as elbows and knees. The in situ cross-linking ensures long-lasting skin adhesion, and generates a protective barrier to external chemical and mechanical insults that keeps the skin dry, even upon water contact. The ability to optimally balance oxygen and moisture permeability potentially provides ideal conditions for skin healing. The invisible polymer layer is derived from a tunable polysiloxane-based material platform that can be engineered to deliver a variety of specific material properties.


According to the company website, Olivo Labs' platform technology consists of a tunable polysiloxane-based material that mimics youthful skin and can be engineered to provide a variety of targeted properties, including elasticity, breathability, invisibility, water resistance, protection. The company vision is to create benchmark solutions through perfectly engineered products. The mission of Olivo Labs is to focus on medical and cosmetic problems; create products with inarguable efficacy; and to invest in biomaterial R&D.