DSM launches the SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER™, a breakthrough online simulation tool for sun protection formulators

DSM is a leading manufacturer of UV filters globally under its heritage brand PARSOL^®. Today the company is pleased to announce the public launch of its SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER™. This formulation simulator enables all sunscreen formulators to develop products more efficiently and to optimize existing formulations before going on to verify SPF performance in vivo. First presented at the Sunscreen Symposium in Florida on September 16, the tool is now available for free online use.

Properly used, today's sunscreens, in particular in the highest SPF range, have the capacity to protect even sensitive individuals against high levels of UV radiation. Yet the incidence of skin cancer continues to rise, with between 2 and 3 million cases of non-melanoma and 132,000 cases of melanoma cancers globally each year. At DSM, we aim to reduce these numbers by maximizing the life-saving potential of sun protection products. Reducing the time and costs associated with formulating sunscreens takes us one step further on the road to making more efficient sunscreens available to consumers worldwide.

A virtual in-silico lab at your finger tips

“At DSM we believe there is a need for an easy-to-use and reliable SPF prediction tool that speeds up sunscreen development and frees the formulator from concerns about not meeting the marketing brief,” says Uli Osterwalder, Senior Scientific Adviser Sun Care at DSM. “The newly launched SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER™ allows formulators to enter a virtual in-silico lab on their computers or smartphones and start experimenting and optimizing sunscreen formulations right away.”

The SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER™ is able to take full account of inorganic filters such as TiO₂ and ZnO, as well as factoring in the synergies achieved by polymeric filters and outcomes from the latest research on photostabilization and photostability kinetics. It also calculates close to in vivo results obtained with performance-boosting water-soluble filters. Following the incorporation of photostability data obtained with PARSOL^® 1789 (INCI: Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane) the online tool can also be used to accurately predict UVA protection values.

The tool has a user-friendly interface, enabling for example:

Capture of all key information at a glance
Concomitant comparison of tests for formulation optimization
Full compatibility with mobile and tablet devices
Profile personalization in Settings
Saving of work to the user’s own archive

Alexander Schlifke, Head of Product Development Sun Care at DSM, comments: “The SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER^TM allows formulators to compare different formula ideas side by side. Hence it offers complete clarity about the UV protection contribution of each individual UV filter by providing instant results that are as close as possible to its performance in normal use. Its calculation algorithm takes into consideration a broad range of performance criteria, including regional regulatory requirements. This new tool calculates not only SPF, but also other parameters, including solvent requirements and the new blue light protection which has been such a hot topic recently.”

^{[1] http://www.who.int/uv/faq/skincancer/en/index1.html, accessed 26 Sep 2017.}

The tool can be accessed via the following link: www.sunscreen-optimizer.com