STH Biotech announces the commercial launch of a bioproduct ingredient from cultivated hemp roots in vitrorich in molecules of interest to the cosmetics market. Co-developed with Inabata France, this biosourced, non-GMO ingredient boasts anti-aging properties.
French start-up STH Biotech has developed an innovative bioproduction process for hemp roots: Hairy Root. According to the young company, this process is capable of boosting the yield of active substances of interest to cosmetics (triterpenes, alkaloids). Its Sativitro platform, set up in a controlled laboratory environment, boosts the production of an alkaloid molecule with anti-aging properties by a factor of 100, compared with the agricultural cultivation of hemp seeds.
Inawave BiotecHemp, a first ingredient extracted from this biomass produced by STH Biotech and formulated by Inabata France (the French subsidiary of the Japanese Inabata group), contains, according to STH Biotech, anti-aging active ingredients that are more effective on certain markers than resveratrol, a molecule derived from grapevines and widely used in cosmetics.
STH Biotech and Inabata France announced its commercial launch on April 8, 2025, at the in-Cosmetics Global trade show in Amsterdam.
" STH Biotech brings Hairy Root bioproduction to the cosmetics industry, promoting an innovation that ensures quality, sustainable and stable sourcing in the face of climate change. Currently raising funds, we have plans to develop other cosmetic ingredients. We are also pursuing our R&D on cannabinoids for applications in the healthcare sector, explains Héloïse Mailhac, CEO of STH Biotech.
"Inabata France continues to expand its Inawave range of eco-friendly extracts. The association with Sativitro technology marks an opening towards the biotech range for Inabata. The results obtained are very promising: Inawave BiotecHemp combines performance and sustainability, everything the cosmetics market demands. The positive feedback we received at the show will prompt us to consider extending Sativitro technology to other plants, and to further strengthen our partnership with STH Biotech.says Pascal Plejewski, Head of sales at Inabata France.
Winners of a European Women Rising Innovators award on April 3, 2025, STH BIOTECH founders Héloïse Mailhac, CEO, and Naomi Kaminsky, CTO, are promoting this new Hairy Root bioproduction technology on the cosmetics market: according to them, a whole range of new ingredients can be developed on the basis of different bioactive compounds identified in hemp roots or derived from other plants.
STH Biotech's bioproduction process begins with germination in vitro of a hemp seed, whose seedling is brought into contact with a bacterium to be transformed into roots. The hemp roots are then grown in bioreactors in a medium containing sugar, vitamins and water. The active molecules required for the formulation of ingredients sold to the cosmetics industry are extracted from this plant raw material.
STH Biotech's non-GMO biomass meets the sustainability objectives of the cosmetics industry. Cultivated without pesticides or heavy metals, it requires 74 times less surface area and 91 times less water than conventional field cultivation. In addition to these ecological advantages, STH's technology guarantees stable costs and production, with no seasonal variability or risk of climatic hazards.
