Exclusive Q&A: BASF unveils two biotech collagen innovations

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In this exclusive conversation, we caught up with Cécile Kalem from BASF. Cécile explores the scientific and market forces driving renewed interest in collagen technologies, from skin longevity and “collagen banking” to biotechnology-derived ingredients. The company is launching two new innovations, SkinNexus™ Collag3n and NeoHelix™ Regenerate, designed to support next-generation strategies for collagen preservation and regeneration in skincare – read on!  

Renewed interest in collagen is primarily driven by the rise of skin longevity and prevention-oriented routines, where “collagen banking” has become a simple, highly shareable concept: preserving the skin’s structural capital for longer, rather than only correcting visible ageing. This momentum is amplified by the growth of collagen nutraceuticals, which keeps collagen top-of-mind and reinforces the idea of long-term maintenance. Technology is also reshaping the collagen market. Traditional animal-derived hydrolysates are progressively losing traction due to limited anti-aging positioning and origin-related concerns, while biotechnology enables more bio-identical, pure, reproducible collagen concepts. 

At the same time, there is a growing demand for next-generation collagen peptides that move beyond supplementation toward renewal and preservation. Taking all these factors into account, collagen is a powerful innovation territory for cosmetic brands, leading to solutions spanning banking and repair.  

So far, animal-derived hydrolysates have been widely used and are generally easy to formulate, but they increasingly face challenges around origin perception, vegan/halal compatibility, and limited ability to support strong anti-aging positioning.

Their size prevents meaningful interaction with deeper skin biology, which is why their activity is largely limited to surface effects such as hydration or film formation.

The key challenges today are therefore less about “making collagen work in a jar” and more about delivering credible performance, reproducible quality, and the right regulatory and naturality alignment, at a scale that brands can adopt. We address this with two complementary strategies: SkinNexus™ Collag3n, produced via biotechnology, is a bio-identical Collagen III fragment designed for scalable performance and broad market accessibility.

NeoHelix™ Regenerate is a unique, biomedical-inspired precision peptide. It is not a “collagen alternative”; it is a step-change in how peptides can interact with collagen, aligning strongly with current market momentum for smarter, more targeted, evidence-led anti-aging solutions.  

These two strategies are designed to address different consumer expectations: maintaining collagen capital versus supporting repair-oriented regeneration. NeoHelix™ Regenerate is especially bioavailable to areas of damage and supports a targeted regeneration approach.

In vivo, it showed a 41% reduction in damaged collagen and a 65% increase in hyaluronic acid, aligned with visible outcomes such as improved tonicity and a reduction in the appearance of forehead wrinkles.

SkinNexus™ Collag3n represents a bio-identical collagen concept. As a human-identical recombinant Collagen III fragment, it is designed to be biologically relevant while remaining stable for industrial use. In vitro, we demonstrated +48% for Collagen I, +82% for Collagen III, and +71% for Collagen V, along with measurable improvements in tonicity, sagging, and wrinkle appearance after only four weeks – outperforming a market collagen benchmark used at 10 times higher dose.

Together, the data supports a holistic approach of the two ingredients around longevity-driven banking plus differentiated repair and regeneration.  

Over the next decade, collagen will increasingly evolve into a skin longevity platform built around a dual logic: preserve early, repair when needed.

Biotechnology is expected to accelerate the shift toward collagen-related materials that are more human-relevant, pure, reproducible, vegan-compatible and scalable, supporting stronger credibility and global adoption.

At the same time, peptide science will continue to expand with more targeted, smarter peptides, increasingly enabled by predictive and AI-assisted development.

At BASF, our approach to collagen science will focus on the innovative peptide platform NeoHelix™, which is set to evolve over the next 5-10 years. This advancement will support a pipeline of intelligent, precisely targeted collagen-interacting solutions and establish a new standard for future collagen technologies.  

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