Dow Corning and Elevance Announce Partnership

Dow Corning Corporation and Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. announced that the two companies have signed joint development and marketing agreements to create and market a line of naturally derived ingredients for the personal care market. The companies believe that this line of performance ingredients will rapidly grow to become a major part of the estimated US$2 billion to US$3 billion natural and organic personal care market, one of the fastest growing segments in the personal care industry.

“Dow Corning has been looking to create alliances with key strategic partners with innovative technology like Elevance to further enhance our position in the personal care market,” said Stephen Gosney, global beauty care industry director, Dow Corning. “We believe the combination of silicon technology with Elevance’s natural-based products provides the market with functional and performance benefits for a wide variety of applications.”

The agreements formalize a partnership that launched novel products into the personal care market in the spring of 2008. The announcement, according to the Dow, also represents another significant step in Dow Corning’s focus to move beyond silicon by providing an expanded line of natural and naturally derived ingredients that offer customers enhanced performance benefits and Elevance’s commitment to advancing novel, natural-based products through partnerships with industry leaders.

“Dow Corning’s proven understanding of the personal care market, as well as their innovative silicon technology, make this an ideal partnership,” said K’Lynne Johnson, CEO, Elevance. “Elevance is very pleased to be entering this rapidly growing market with one of the industry’s premier leaders.”

The partnership combines Elevance’s patented, Nobel Prize-winning metathesis technology—which, according to the company, has the ability to use multiple renewable feedstocks to create high-performing, environmentally friendly solutions—and Dow Corning’s position as a premier solution provider in silicon-based technology. Together, the companies will develop new ingredients that Dow Corning will offer to the personal care market.

The companies have already developed two products: Dow Corning HY-3050 Soy Wax, designed for use as a naturally derived structuring agent, and Dow Corning HY-3051 Soy Wax Blend, a blend of HY-3050 Soy Wax and hydrogenated soybean oil that serves as a naturally derived alternative to petrolatum. Both products are used in skin care, color cosmetics, hair care and underarm products.

These products are currently available for commercial sale in locales around the United States and Latin America and are available for sampling in Canada and Europe. The companies intend to expand commercialization of these products more globally later this year.

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