During a trip to Brazil, Eric Ducournau, CEO of the Pierre Fabre Group, and Nuria Perez-Cullell, General Manager of the Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmetics Division (PFDC), announced the opening of the Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmetics Brazilian Innovation Center. The announcement was made at the Maison de France in the presence of the Deputy Consul General of France in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Jean-François Laborie.
The Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmetics Brazilian Innovation Center is managed by Anne-Laure Gaudry, reporting to Xavier Ormancey, PFDC R&D Director. With a surface area of 320 m2, it is located in the Carioca district of Barra da Tijuca, with a branch on the Areal industrial site in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Designed and organized according to the most advanced scientific and technical standards in the cosmetics industry, it will employ around twenty researchers and technicians by 2021. This multidisciplinary team will collaborate with 5 other PFDC laboratories located in France and Japan, as well as with the 335 employees of PFDC's Brazilian subsidiary. In perspective, Pierre Fabre reinvests around 4.5% of its dermo-cosmetic sales in R&D each year, placing it in the very high range of the global cosmetics industry.
PFDC's Brazilian Innovation Center will pursue a threefold mission: to develop a better understanding of Brazilian skin from a dermatological point of view, and of the needs of Brazilian consumers from a sociological point of view; to identify upstream trends in one of the world's most sophisticated and inventive cosmetics markets; and to ensure the development of new products adapted to the local market for the Eau Thermale Avène, Ducray and Darrow brands. This innovation center will operate on the model of the Asian Innovation Center (AIC) opened in Japan in 2015. The AIC has since demonstrated PFDC's ability to turn the development of products specifically adapted to the needs of Asian skin into commercial success.
Nuria Perez-Cullell, Managing Director of Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique, pointed out that "Brazil, the world's fourth-largest cosmetics market, is of major importance to our company. The Brazilian dermatology school is renowned the world over, the Brazilian population has an incredible mix of skin and hair types, and Brazilian consumers are particularly sophisticated and demanding when it comes to cosmetic products. It was therefore natural for PFDC to locate its second international innovation center here, and I'm convinced that its teams will develop formulas and products that will be appreciated first locally and then beyond Brazil's borders".
The Pierre Fabre Group has been present in Brazil since 1985, and is currently developing its two activities there: pharmaceuticals and dermo-cosmetics. Since the acquisition of Laboratoires Darrow in 2006, the Group has a plant in Areal (Rio de Janeiro State) specialized in the production of dermo-cosmetic products. In 2017, products marketed by Pierre Fabre do Brasil generated consumer sales in excess of 300 million reals (€62 million), up 10% on the previous year. With its Eau Thermale Avène, Darrow and Ducray brands, PFDC is the 3rd largest player in the Brazilian dermo-cosmetics market.
