PhytoCellTecTM nunatak®

Secrets of beauty from the ice age

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020
The Ice Age Story

Approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago, during

the last years of the Pleistocene, the last glacial
period in the northern hemisphere occurred.
The Alps became increasingly covered with ice, they
presented solid ice fields and mountain glaciers.
Glaciers covered the whole western Swiss plateau,
reaching a thickness of several hundred meters in the
alpine valleys.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

The Swiss Alps During the Last Glacial
Maximum

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Ice Age, a Threat for all Living Organisms

The effects of the glaciation on flora and fauna were

dramatic, over 90 % of all terrestrial life vanished
from the northern hemisphere.

Only those organisms that were truly robust and

could quickly adapt to the conditions were able to
survive the permanently cold and dry climate on ice-
free mountain peaks known as “nunataks”.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Nunataks -
Isolated Mountain Peaks
• Nunatak: Inuit word referring to an isolated
mountain top that protrudes above the surface of
glaciers.
• Nunataks in the Swiss Alps: Rothorn and Hörnli
near Arosa, Zermatt and Simplon region, Pilatus,
Säntis and Rigi.
• On nunataks water is often present in liquid form
(assimilation by plant roots).
• Nunatak plant species show an especially high
genetic diversity which allows them to adapt to
extreme environmental conditions.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Nunatak Plants

In the postglacial era, these extremophile plants

progressively re-colonized the alpine region.
→The original alpine plants are actually these
“nunatak plants”

Other so-called alpine plants such as the “Edelweiss”

in fact only migrated from Asia to the alpine region
after the ice age.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Saponaria pumila:
A Nunatak Plant
• Saponaria pumila is an alpine cushion plant of the
Caryophyllaceae family.
• It grows on acidic and siliceous gravelly hillsides
up to 2700 m.
• Saponaria pumila is proven to be a nunatak plant
species that survived the ice age on nunataks in
the Alps.
• It developed special protecting mechanisms to
quickly and sustainably adapt to extreme
conditions.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Technology
Mibelle Biochemistry has used its unique PhytoCellTec™ plant stem cell technology to develop and
extract the stem cells of the ice age.

1. Wounding of Saponaria plant part to induce the formation of a callus tissue

2. Growing callus cells in liquid cultures
3. Disrupture of the cells, extracting the oil- and water-soluble ingredients with
liposomal bilayers
4. Spraying on a powder based on Isomalt

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Sustainability
PhytoCellTec™ is a highly sustainable technology.
It allows the production of active raw materials without harming the environment:

• very little of plant material  rare and difficult to grow plant species like the alpine plant Saponaria
pumila can be grown
• protects rare and endangered plants
• no agricultural land is required to produce biomass
• significant reduction of water consumption compared to conventional biomass production
• no need for fertilizer, pesticides and other chemicals

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Composition

INCI (EU / PCPC) Declaration

Saponaria Pumila Callus Culture Extract (and) Isomalt (and) Lecithin (and) Aqua/Water

Recommended Use Level

0.4 – 1 %

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Protection of Dermal Progenitor Cells from
UV/VIS

Cells: Dermal progenitor cells (isolated from the dermal papilla of

plucked hair follicles)
Test product: 0.5% Saponaria pumila stem cell extract

Study design
• Cultivation of cell layers +/- 0.5% Saponaria pumila stem cell extract for 2 days
• Exposure to UV/VIS (300 – 800 nm, at 6 J/cm2)
• Induction of sphere formation in non-adherent wells
• Determination of sphere number (spheres are round clusters of cells originating from one dermal
stem cell)

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® Maintains
Dermal Stem Cell Vitality after UV Stress

After irradiation with UV/VIS, the sphere number

decreased in all cultures, but in cultures with
Saponaria pumila stem cell extract the sphere
number was 35 % higher compared to the
unprotected control.

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® can protect dermal stem

cells against the harmful effects of UV and visible
S-422
light.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

UV/VIS: Influence on Sphere Size

Large spheres are formed by the stem cells

with the highest regenerative potential

• 0% large spheres in the control culture

after irradiation.
• Irradiation reduces the proliferation
S-422
capacity of the most vital cells.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

UV/VIS + PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®

S-422

With PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®, the repartition of the sphere size was almost entirely unaffected by irradiation, the proportion
of large spheres remained at the same level.
→ PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® maintains the renewal potential of the dermal stem cells in spite of irradiation.
© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020
PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Protecting Effect in Spite of UV
Test product: Cream with 1 % PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®,
placebo
Volunteers: 11 (Caucasian, f, 44.7 - 68.4 y), with skin that
was not sun-adapted
Application: Twice daily for 4 weeks.
Cream with 1% PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
on one half of the face, placebo on the
other half. Start: 2 weeks before a period
of 1 – 2 weeks of seaside holidays.

Placebo-treated side: Increase in skin roughness (sun and

seawater stress), PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® - treated side:
almost no change in skin roughness
→PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® protects the skin against UV and
S-498

seawater stress
*p=0.048 versus initial conditions

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

 Smoother skin texture
on the PhytoCellTec™
nunatak® treated side

S-498

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Improvement of Skin Density

Volunteers: 20 (f, 44.2 - 59.5 y, mean age: 53.5 y), with sun-damaged skin
Test product: Cream + 0.4 % PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®, placebo
Application: Twice daily for 28 d to the inner side of the forearms
Parameter: Skin density (epidermis + dermis) by ultrasonic measurements

Ultrasonic waves generate echoes when they are partially reflected at the boundaries between different
tissue structures → visualization of the intensity by colors. The collagen and elastic fiber structure of an
intact dermis yields many reflections that are visible as bright colors in the ultrasonographic image. Dark
patches: weaker matrix structure.

SLEB = subepidermal low-echogenic band, commonly found in aged and photo-damaged skin.

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Ultrasonographic Images

S-516

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak® increased the density of the dermal tissue leading to a

reduction of the SLEB.
© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020
Increase of Tissue Density

Volunteers
20 (f, 44.2 - 59.5 y, mean age: 53.5 y), with sun-
damaged skin
Test product
Cream with 0.4 % PhytoCellTec™nunatak®,
placebo
Application
Twice daily for 28 days to the inner side of the
forearms.

S-516

10% increase in skin density after one month with

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Improvement of Skin Elasticity and
Firmness
Volunteers
20 (f, 44.2 - 59.5 y, mean age: 53.5 y), with sun-
damaged skin
Test product
Cream with 0.4 % PhytoCellTec™nunatak®,
placebo
Application
Twice daily for 28 days to the inner side of the
forearms.

S-516

Increase in skin firmness >14 % compared to the

placebo after just one month of treatment

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®

• Protects and vitalizes dermal stem cells

• Re-densifies the skin
• Fortifies skin’s self-defense activities
• Enhances the smooth appearance of the skin,
even when it is exposed to the sun

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Applications
• Ice Age Cosmetics
• Anti-aging, firming and collagen boosting
formulations
• Age-defense products for both the face and body
• Advanced stem cell cosmetics

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

PhytoCellTec™ nunatak®
Marketing Benefits
• Plant stem cells to protect skin stem cells
• Proven efficacy on skin stem cells
• Based on stem cells from a rare Alpine plant that
survived the ice age
• Sustainable sourcing of raw material
• Runner-up at the 2014 Sustainable Beauty
Awards for its sustainable processing methods
• Free logo to label your products that contain
PhytoCellTec™ actives; acts as a quality label

© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020

Address
Mibelle Biochemistry
Mibelle AG
Bolimattstrasse 1
5033 Buchs
Switzerland

Phone number: +41 62 836 17 31

Website: www.mibellebiochemistry.com
Mail: info@mibellebiochemistry.com

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© Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland 2020