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OVERVIEW
Skin Biology: A review of our mission
"THE TURN BACK THE CLOCK DOC"
Article published in the Bellevue Club Magazine
BEHIND THE PRODUCTS
The Skin Biology approach to making skin care product
"I have studied methods of reversing human aging for my entire career, and I found a special fraction of peptides from soy proteins that possesses remarkable skin regeneration properties ...I'm lucky I enjoy what I do." — Dr. Loren Pickart
Skin Biology is on a quest to turn back the clock on aging.
Copper-peptides topically nourish the skin to improve the visible signs of aging. Dr. Pickart, noted biochemist who discovered such type of copper-peptides, has developed products that supply nutritional copper to the skin for additional support. Our mission is to develop safe and effective products that help activate your skin's own natural renewal systems.
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Interview of Dr. Pickart by Jennifer Doyle Published in the Bellevue Club Magazine
The fabled Fountain of Youth may be just a fantasy, but the discoveries of biochemist Dr. Loren Pickart actually may help mere mortals banish wrinkles, sun damage and other signs of aging. Through research that began in the 1970s, Loren discovered a revolutionary copper peptide complex that has been shown to help those over age 35 achieve younger-looking skin. If this sounds like something you'd like to get your hands on, you're not alone. Loren has founded two companies to develop products that contain this type of copper peptide; in addition, it is available at drugstores in skin-care products made by American Crew, Neutrogena and other cosmetic companies. Today, his research continues. "One of my goals is to give every woman the skin of a 17-year-old girl," he says.
"Through research that began
in the 1970s, Loren discovered a
revolutionary copper peptide
complex that has been shown
to help those over age 35
achieve younger-looking skin"
Loren's interest in medical research took root as a child growing up in the Minnesota heartland. "When I was 10 years old, I got a serious throat infection that had me in the bed for two weeks," he says. "Then the doctor gave me a shot of penicillin, and I was up and around within the hour." The idea that the discovery of penicillin could have such a powerful impact on
healthcare left a lasting impression on Loren. As a young adult, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota with the intent of making a career of medical research. After talking to the medical researchers on campus, he decided to concentrate his studies on a relatively new field: human aging. "This was the '60s, when medical researchers believed they would find a cure for cancer and heart disease in the next 10 years," he says. "I decided to study human aging instead, because that way I would always have a job." Once Loren graduated from UM with a degree in chemistry and math, he began working at a gerontological research laboratory in Santa Barbara that studied human aging. After a few years, he moved to San Francisco to pursue his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of California San Francisco.
At UCSF, the research that would dictate his professional life to took shape. "I was searching for something that would reverse the effects of aging," he explains. "In looking at the blood, I saw that younger blood grows cells better than older blood. The question was, why?" The answer (and subject of Loren's thesis) was a small copper peptide complex that keeps cells alive longer. Through years of research, working with both UCSF and the University of Washington, Loren discovered that this type of copper peptide has powerful healing and tissue remodeling properties.
In 1980, Loren moved to Bellevue to be closer to the UW Chemistry Department. He founded a biotech company, ProCyte Corporation, to develop what he now calls his "first generation" of copper peptide products. In several clinical studies set up by Loren,
"I was searching for something that
would reverse the effects of aging.
In looking at the blood, I saw that
younger blood grows cells better
than older blood.
~The question was, why?"
the results were promising: the copper peptide complex was shown to reverse many of the signs of aging, including wrinkles and sun damage. In 1989, Loren took ProCyte public on NASDAQ. Two years later, tragedy struck. While at the airport during a strenuous business trip, Loren developed a blood clot, a life-threatening condition that required cardiac surgery and extensive rehabilitation. "I decided to leave ProCyte in order to concentrate on my health," he says. Today ProCyte is profitable from licensing patented technology and selling its own products ---the Neova line for cosmetic skin renewal, the Complex Cu3 line to improve skin healing after dermatological procedures and Graftcyte for increasing the success of hair transplant grafts.
In 1994, with his health restored, Loren joined with wife Charlene —a UCSF graduate with a master's in mother-infant nursing whom Loren met while attending the university— to form a second biotech company, Skin Biology. "After testing about 200 different copper complexes, I found a special fraction of peptides from soy proteins that possess remarkable skin regeneration properties," he says. Skin Biology is currently patenting and test marketing various products built around this second, more effective generation of copper peptides. To date, the market for these products has been largely cosmetic; for example, they are useful for skin recovery after such cosmetic treatments such as skin peels, dermabrasion and laser resurfacing. Loren says future goals include developing a product for pre-ulcer dermatitis and, on a larger scale, putting together a complete picture of how the copper peptide works in the human body.
In the meantime, Skin Biology's existing products, which include skin creams, exfoliators and acne serums, continue to gain popularity through word of mouth. "I get calls from 24-year-old models who have heard about our products," says Loren, who adds that those over age 35 will see the most dramatic results. "Women who start using the skin cream notice that their skin looks better. Then they put it on everything: their faces, hands, feet, husband, children, pets and plants," he quips. You can read more
about Skin Biology and its products at www.skinbiology.com. When not searching for ways to restore the perfect peaches-and-cream complexion, Loren can be found traveling with Charlene and their three daughters Germaine, Francoise and Genevieve; enjoying a meal or
taking a sauna at the Club; or cruising to the family's vacation
"After testing about 200 different
copper complexes, I found a special
fraction of peptides from soy proteins
that possesses remarkable skin
regeneration properties."
home on San Juan Island on his boat, Regenerate. "I'm 65 years old;
I want to enjoy life," he says. Reflecting on his days at UCSF, he recalls how the university's Biochemistry Department operated with the ideology that one should never do something unless he or she has fun doing it. Says Loren, "Scientists are like clergymen; they never really retire. I'm lucky that I enjoy what I do."
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Dr. Pickart's Approach to Making Skin Products
1. All of our copper peptide skin products are designed to help improve skin health. Many cosmetic products slowly degrade skin health. The approach we use is to emphasize the skin's natural activators of renewal and remodeling: SRCPs, hydroxy acids, natural biological oils that are in the skin, types of skin abrasion, retinoic acid, and vitamin C (this is best taken internally). What actually triggers the skin's renewal responses is a rather narrow list.
2.Our basic SRCP products have been tested by independent laboratories and been classified as non-irritants, non-allergens, non-carcinogenic, and non-poisonous. Skin Biology water/oil creams have no detergents and are always close to breaking up into a water phase and oil phase. They do not open and damage the skin barrier. Four published studies found they increase the skin barrier strength.
3. The selection of ingredients and formulations that improve skin health are based on generally-accepted published studies in reputable science journals by ourselves and others.
4. We select ingredients from the FDA's GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) list of food ingredients and cosmetic ingredients with a long history of product safety. The FDA states that safety information exists on only 11% of the 10,500 cosmetic ingredients cataloged by the FDA.
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5. FDA requirements call for the use of formulations that resist bacterial growth. We use preservatives with long records of safety in cosmetic products. Recently concerns have been raised about parabens in cosmetics. Parabens are molecules from plants, such a blueberries and soybeans, that are used as preservatives in foods and cosmetics. Parabens have some estrogenic activity and there have been concerns as to their safety with respect to cancer. The Scientific Committee on Consumer Products for the European Union wrote an extended opinion on: the Safety Evaluation of Parabens covering in addition isopropyl paraben. Adopted by written procedure on 28 January 2005. In summary, they said there was no link between parabens and breast cancer and criticized the data used in previous studies. While parabens appear to be safe, this may not be true for other estrogenic materials such as sunscreen chemical oils and the thousands of alien chemicals that the cosmetic industry adds to products. So why the difference? Normal foods contain most of the carcinogens to which our bodies are exposed. But our metabolic systems have long been adapting to these molecules and have methods to detoxify them. So parabens, being nothing new to the body, can be detoxified by our bodies. In contrast, estrogenic chemicals such as sunscreen chemicals, PCBs, and DDT are alien chemicals to our body. There is nothing in our genetic heritage to tell the body how to detoxify and remove these molecules. This is the danger of alien, unnatural chemicals.
6. We avoid the following:
6.1 Formulations and moisturizers that are designed to push water into the skin, wet the outer skin proteins, and "puff up" the skin to make wrinkles and creases less obvious. The problem is that as such products loosen and wet the skin, they damage the skin barrier and permit easier access by bacteria, viruses, and allergens. The chronic wetness also inhibits the signals that tell the skin to send more keratinocytes to the surface.
6.2 "New chemical entities", that is, synthetic molecules that the human body has never been previous exposed to in our history. It requires decades to determine the safety of such molecules such as in the case of PCBs and DDT.
6.3 Plant extracts with the exception of a few ingredients such as vitamins that are used in the human body, and substances such as aloe vera that have exceptionally good records of non-allergic actions on skin. Most plant extracts are alien to human skin and, in time, may cause rashes and allergic reactions. Many plant extracts are substances to stop animals from eating them, such as poisons and carcinogens.
6.4 Types of collagen-inducing peptides that act like Transforming Factor Beta 1 (TGF-beta-1), a protein named because it caused normal cells to grow like cancer cells. Concerns have been raised that such types of molecules may speed the spread of cancers and play a role in kidney failure.
6.5 Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan) because it plays a critical role in the spread of cancer cells.
6.6 Ingredients used as nerve inhibitors to relax muscles to reduce wrinkles. Long term cosmetic use of such ingredients may inhibit nerve function in the brain and other areas of the body.
6.7 Dyes and coloring agents.
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