Vytrus wishes you a happy and healthy holidays

Vytrus’s founding partners and team want to create a special space to all our colleagues: partners, clients, distributors, suppliers, and collaborators.

This is a space of peace, commitment, love, trust, and hope, where people, nature, wellbeing, and cosmetics coexist in harmony.

In the above video, we want to dedicate to you and your families our best wishes, happy holidays season and a safe and healthy new year.

We are happy to announce our corporate social responsibility project. The Vytrus CSR project, which began with our foundation 12 years ago, goes beyond any current trend and is explained by the awareness of the founders and by our own activity. The raw material, plants, and the technology, biotechnology, gives a focus on respect for nature and the environment, promoting values such as sustainability, social awareness, transparency and honesty, which form our culture and the distinguishing features of its spirit and character, the DNA.

The Vytrus project is developed through 4 central axes: people, planet, company and social commitment.

1. People are the soul of Vytrus

People are a priority and one of the main assets in our company’s value chain. The Vytrus’ values are aligned with its human team, which proposes them, thus sharing and participating in the CSR commitment.

2. The planet, a commitment to socially sustainable investment

At Vytrus we ensure that our actions are sustainable throughout the environment, enhancing the benefits provided by biotechnology. Seeking positive impacts, such as the genetic reservoir, the possibility of working with exotic plants, endangered and endemic species, which allows for recovery, replanting and repopulation.

“Returning to nature what nature has given us” is Vytrus’ commitment to the planet and nature. A project in which its ingredients allocate a percentage of their turnover to sponsoring social, scientific or research projects, preservation of nature and plants, the environment and/or climate change, among others. In this way, we formalize close alliances with entities and projects with these synergies.

3. Conscious company

Vytrus is ISO9001 and GMP-EFfCi certified; Plantino Medal by Ecovadis in 2021 for its good practices in CSR and sustainability; COSMOS-Ecocert and ISO 16128 certified ingredients (with a 100% natural origin portfolio); we use 100% renewable energy and we implement an internal recycling project.

Vytrus conducts transparent, honest, ethical, and sustainable management. A year ago, we created the CSR Committee to put sustainability at the heart of the company and identify areas for improvement.

Sustainable and conscious cosmetics, a new way of acting in the cosmetics industry, in terms of business management and product generation.

Natural ingredients that provide solutions that contribute to people’s health and well-being, created considering their environmental, social and economic impact. To address inner beauty through personal care, with respectful and natural treatments that provide security and confidence, improving people’s quality of life.

4. Social commitment, solidarity

At Vytrus, the social commitment involves the creation of community awareness in the environment in which it grows and develops its activity. Through local involvement with social entities, reinsertion, solidarity actions, donations, reforestation of natural spaces, etc.

We understand that the successes of science are the driving force behind the progress of society and scientific culture is key to raising awareness of sustainability, encouraging critical and innovative thinking. We endorse a model that combines innovation and sustainability in a profitable business to achieve a better world.

At Vytrus we continue making strides in terms of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. In our second year of evaluation by the Ecovadis sustainability platform, we have obtained the Platinum medal, the highest rating only awarded to a 1% of the companies evaluated worldwide. In 2020, our first year of evaluation and in the middle of the pandemic, we were also recognized by the Ecovadis Silver medal for the good practices in sustainability.

We have excelled in environmental and ethical issues, aspects that have earned us the Platinum medal for the achievements in sustainability. This worldwide recognition represents a guarantee of high quality, ethics and business honesty for partners and clients. A historic milestone for us, also we have recently launched our Corporate Social Responsibility program with four fundamental axes: people, planet, company, and social commitment.

According to Albert Jané, CEO, COO and co-founder of Vytrus Biotech: “This recognition is the result of the constant work carried out by the Vytrus team. CSR and Sustainability have been part of our company’s DNA since our origins. We are grateful and proud that this commitment is recognized and places us at the top of sustainability and at the same level of major corporations worldwide.”

EcoVadis, the only universal provider of sustainability ratings evaluates the sustainability practices of more than 75,000 companies in over 160 countries. It provides a complete set of performance improvement tools, indicators, certificates and awards as EcoVadis medals in order to improve the environmental and social impact of companies worldwide.

The methodology applied covers seven management indicators based on 21 sustainability criteria focused on four areas: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. It is based on the main standards, such as those of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), the UN Global Compact and ISO 26000, and is supervised by an international scientific committee. They rate performance by evaluating a company’s policies, actions, and results, as well as input from third-party professionals and external stakeholders.

At Vytrus Biotech we continue positioning ourselves with sustainability and respect for nature at the core of our organization. We have recently achieved 100% natural origin content in our entire portfolio of active ingredients according to ISO 16128, which determines the natural, organic, or natural/organic content of a cosmetic based on the characterization of the ingredients.

Society is becoming increasingly aware of values such as sustainability and respect for the environment. As a result, consumer demand for natural and organic cosmetics has increased worldwide. This has led both raw material suppliers and manufacturers of cosmetic final products and brands to adapt their developments to this new trend that is gaining momentum and has come here to stay.

Compliance with ISO 16128 is one of the main keys to guaranteeing natural cosmetics and allows us to offer great transparency to the consumer and homogeneity in the market. Therefore, this international standard allows to unify the categorization of cosmetic products in naturalness.

We consider respect for the environment and skin care as an integral value of our company and an aspect applicable from all its perspectives. In addition to having 100% natural content, our active ingredients are Cosmos Approved certified, and our raw materials are toxic-free, GMO-free and palm oil-free.

We were born as a sustainable firm, proposing a new approach based on environmentally friendly technology. With only a small part of the plant, we obtain its stem cells containing the full potential of the plant to create high added value natural active ingredients with proven efficacy in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo for personal care. This sustainable methodology, which reduces the use of water and soil required to almost 100%, represents a major advance over traditional methods. A biotechnology that allows us to work with exotic plants (endangered and endemic species) with minimal impact on the ecosystem and to offer its clients a range of 100% natural active ingredients.

Since our foundation, Vytrus have revolutionized cosmetics in terms of innovation, efficiency, and naturalness; providing environmentally friendly cosmetic ingredients that seek to harness the real power of plants to improve people’s quality of life and health.

Vytrus has been nominated as a finalist in the Cosmetorium 2021 Awards, organized by the Sociedad Española de Químicos Cosméticos (SEQC), with the Formulation Award “Clean Beauty, less is more”. At the 2019 edition of Cosmetorium, Vytrus was recognized as Cosmetorium Awards winner in the “Innovation in Ingredient” category for its active ingredient Olea Vitae™. A cosmetics industry award that was followed by the Gold and Silver Best Ingredient Award 2020 from in-Cosmetics Global for its active ingredients: Kannabia Sense ™ and Deobiome Noni ™.

The latest creations of the Vytrus formulation department have put efforts into the “Clean Beauty” movement and aim to bring sustainable cosmetic concepts that have respect for people, their well-being and that of the environment at their core.

The formulation nominated for the Cosmetorium 2021 awards was LET IT BEE, Nourishing nectar. This fast-absorbing emollient nectar nourishes and cares for the skin and deeply moisturizes, leaving the skin feeling soft and silky after application. This proposal, formulated with Nectaria Lithops as the main active ingredient, is an aqueous gel with nourishing oil drops, capable of maintaining hydration and skin comfort. Levulinic acid is used as part of the formula’s preservative system to mimic the bees’ strategy to protect the nectar against microbiological deterioration.

Vytrus’ latest launch, Nectaria Lithops, the Cellular Nectar for D-Skin, is one of the key innovations in the shortlisted formulation. It is a 100% natural and vegan cosmetic ingredient derived from plant stem cells with a biophysical mechanism of action that stimulates the production of vitamin D in the skin, thanks to innovative and sustainable biotechnology. Lithops, the plant that inspired Vytrus, has an optimal structure to maintain its hydration and perform subway photosynthesis in situations of extreme drought in its natural habitat, the desert.

This formulation with Nectaria Lithops makes sense in a post-pandemic situation, where vitamin D levels have been drastically decreased due to increased time spent indoors and lack of exposure to sunlight.

The winners of the Cosmetorium 2021 awards will be announced next Thursday, October 21 at the Auditorium of the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona at 10.30 am, after the inaugural conference. Vytrus will be exhibiting at the fair at booth 105 and will be present at Innovatorium nº 011 with its latest finalist launch. At the same time, Dr. Òscar Expósito, CEO, CSO and co-founder of Vytrus, will give a presentation at the Tech-Focus on Wednesday, October 20 at 17:40h (Spanish time) under the title: “Stimulating topical vitamin D with a biotechnological ingredient: the new Cellular Nectar for a D Skin”.

Admission to the exhibition area and access to the seminars and/or conferences is free for all attendees, with prior registration on the website. Click here to access the registration form.

For the third consecutive year, Vytrus Biotech will take part at Cosmetorium 2021, the national fair of reference in the cosmetic sector that will take place on October 20 and 21 at the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona. After a year marked by the pandemic, it will be the first face-to-face event in the beauty sector and Vytrus will be at the stand nº105. At the fair Vytrus will launch its new ingredient, Nectaria Lithops, a Cell Nectar for D-Skin, which optimizes levels of vitamin D.

More than ninety exhibitors will participate in Cosmetorium fifth edition, organized by SEQC and Step Exhibitions. The fair presents a scientific program, in which thirty professionals from the sector will address key current issues in the cosmetic industry and will offer answers to specific challenges of the sector; the Tech-Focus program of technical-commercial presentations and Workshops, based in practical program. Some of the topics covered will be the microbiome and genetics, successful aging, sustainable industrial production, Green Beauty 3.0, among others.

Vytrus, after detecting that Vitamin D levels are critically decreased due to the modern lifestyles and in-house habits, proposes a new natural way to face the optimization of vitamin D through cosmetics with its latest launch: Nectaria Lithops.

The CEO, CSO and cofounder of Vytrus, Òscar Expósito, will present the Tech-Focus in English on Wednesday, October 20 at 5:40 p.m. (Spanish time) about: Stimulating vitamin D topically with a biotech ingredient: the new Nectar Cell for a Skin D.

Throughout the event, our technical team will be available to visitors to schedule meetings and learn first-hand about the latest Vytrus Biotech launches and active ingredients with applications for skin, hair and body care.

The entrance to the exhibition area and access to the seminars and / or conferences is free for all attendees, with prior registration on the website. Click here to access the registration form.

Vytrus will take part at the III edition of the national forum of reference in natural cosmetics, organized by Beauty Cluster and Mentactiva, which will be held in Spanish.

The Green Beauty Congress, which acquires a virtual format this year, is a 360 ° event lasting two days, June 29 and 30. Its objective is to share information and discuss the strategy and marketing of natural products, regulation, formulation, and market. At the congress there will be presentations related to the latest natural innovations, active ingredients, global trends, success stories of companies in the sector, and a formulation challenge as well.

Among the speakers, there is our Business Development Manager, Raúl Vallecillo, who will present the webinar in Spanish: Biotech natural strategy: optimizing vitamin D from plant sugars. It will take place on June 29 at 12:50 pm virtually (Spanish time).

On the other hand, our CEO, CSO and co-founder, Òscar Expósito, will participate at the round table, on June 30 at 10:50 am (Spanish time), where concepts such as naturalness and packaging will be discussed.

The event it is free for Beauty Cluster members and enable the access for the rest of the industry.

GBC21 is aligned with our values ​​related to sustainability and respect for the environment. Within this framework, Vytrus will offer a new approach to cosmetics from the “natural biotech”: a vision of naturalness that goes a step beyond traditional natural methods and is based on cutting-edge biotechnological advances and with a high degree of efficiency and sustainability. This new perspective allows us to work with plants in a respectful way and obtain all their potential for the cosmetic market.

Last April 20, Òscar Expósito (CEO, CSO and co-founder), exclusively presented in two webinar sessions our latest launch: NECTARIA LITHOPS, the cell Nectar for a D-Skin.

But what does the D-SKIN concept brings to the beauty field?

The sun light is necessary for our skin to be healthy and produce the so-called Vitamin D: the sun vitamin. Vitamin D levels are critically decreased due to the modern lifestyles, in-house habits, and an excess of sun protection cream use. An issue that can naturally be faced by cosmetics.

The biotech company is willing to challenge skin care and proposes NECTARIA LITHOPS, a novel natural active ingredient that significantly stimulates the synthesis of vitamin D by epidermal cells to strengthen, revitalize, volumize, and glow the faded skin, achieving the desired ‘D-Skin’. A new concept for cosmetic formulators that look for clean, efficient, and revolutionary ingredients to meet today’s consumers’ requirements.

Vytrus Biotech proposes a new concept for the cosmetic market, the D-Skin. What does it imply?

• A vitamin D enriched skin
• A Dewy skin
• A D-lighted Skin
• A Deeply hydrated skin
• A D-approach for Sun Care

To create this innovation, Vytrus has been inspired by the plant Lithops pseudotruncatella (‘Living Stones’), an expert in the management of water, space, and light in very extreme conditions. Thanks to its mechanism of action from plant stem cells, NECTARIA LITHOPS, respectful with the skin microbiota, boosts vitamin D production in skin cells to create the optimal skin environment, hydrate the deepest layers of the skin, increase the skin dewiness and cheek volume, and improve oxygenation, microcirculation, and skin tone and texture.

While opening a new D-vision for the whole Sun Care market (why choosing between being protected and having a healthy skin, take it all!), NECTARIA LITHOPS approaches cosmetic applications such as volumizing and brightening formulations, tone and texture evening treatments, wellbeing & antioxidant products, dry/very dry skin formulations, dermal filling applications, moisturizers, skin densifying and structuring formulations, and radiance and glow treatments, highlighters, and colour cosmetics, amongst others.

Vytrus Biotech has presented the best figures in its history in the year of the pandemic and has broken its own record and billing forecasts in 2020, reaching 1.7 million euros at the end of the year. The company thus reaches a milestone in its trajectory: the operational break even.

This milestone, which classifies Vytrus as a profitable company, represents a challenge in the whirlwind of the pandemic year and reflects the company’s strong position in front of its shareholders and the market. Once the breakeven has been reached, the industrial biotechnology company will focus on continuing the international expansion of the business and scaling the profitability obtained in 2021.

According to Albert Jané, CEO and co-founder of Vytrus: ‘We are very happy with the great results obtained in 2020, especially since the exceptional situation has required a huge effort from each person in our team. Despite the difficult situation, we came out very strengthened as a team and we hope this achievement to boost our growth in the coming years’.

The audited annual accounts of Vytrus for 2020 reflect an increase in its EBITDA (operating profit) of by 200%, up to 591 thousand euros. In the words of its Chief Financial Officer, Jordi Rovira: ‘We have managed to put the green colour in all the boxes of our financial statements, and we have done so in the most difficult year in our recent history. Furthermore, the support of our shareholders and our financial partners will allow us to continue investing to finance our expansion’.

The results of the biotech company represent an increase of 40% in sales compared to 2019, where exports to the rest of the world take on a special role. In line with the evolution of the business over the last 4 years, revenues have once again grown at double digits within the trend of 30-40% increase.

The beginning of the pandemic meant an environment of uncertainty and a certain impact on the company, which quickly rallied and maintained its growth rate from month to month, thanks to the effort and dedication of a highly qualified and committed team. A round year marked by its record in turnover and EBITDA, the Ecovadis Silver Medal recognition (positive evaluation of its good sustainability practices, together with the 25% of companies worldwide that have it), the increase in the workforce by 10 % and fabulous awards of its innovation with the double prize ‘Best Ingredient Award 2020’ in worldwide from In-cosmetics Global for its last two cosmetic launches for skin care (Kannabia Sense) and body odor (Deobiome Noni™).

Several key trade media from the cosmetic sector echoed the news:

Cosmetics Business

HPC Today

Indústria Cosmética

Cosmetic LATAM

Vytrus Biotech has been selected to participate in the BIOMED ScaleUP business acceleration program, promoted by CataloniaBio & HealthTech.

The health industry has undergone a great evolution since 2010. According to the 2020 Catalonia BioRegion Report, 92% of the companies are micro and SMEs. Due to this, CataloniaBio has created the BIOMED ScaleUp program, with the aim of helping companies in the Catalan health and science sector grow and consolidate to increase their competitiveness at a global level.

According to Jordi Rovira, Vytrus CFO: “Our company, after a process of transformation and consolidation, has gone from being a start-up to becoming a fully industrial company today. This program represents an opportunity for Vytrus to continue growing and increasing our competitiveness internationally. “

BIOMED ScaleUp is expected to contribute to the business’ positive evolution with a consecutive turnover increase in the range of 30-40% in the last 3 years. The company foresees positive results for 2020 financial year, just awaiting for the external financial audit.

The CataloniaBio programm is a commitment both to the growth of companies that have passed the early-stage, and organizations that are in the international expansion phase such as Vytrus. This initiative seeks to promote companies in the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia that stand out for their growth potential in terms of innovation, processes, or market diversification.

The program consists of a first informative session by Melqui Calzado, general secretary of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, and the conference “How to prepare the company for growth” given by Xavier Marcet, consultant in strategy, innovation, and corporate entrepreneurship. After passing the first phase of 3 training capsules of corporate growth training and an individual diagnostic session -to assess the suitability of the company to participate in the program-, the next phase of personalized acceleration is accessed, with ten training capsules – on leadership, growth in different areas of the company, management, and differentiation, among others- and ten advisory sessions for the ten selected companies.

According to the latest Bioregion report, the biotech sector represents 7.3% of Catalan GDP, with a turnover of almost €20,000M, positioning as the second sector with the highest income in the ranking. BIOMED ScaleUp is one of the actions that is part of the strategic axis of promoting a cluster of high added value.