Global specialty chemicals leader Lubrizol introduced the beauty industry’s first active ingredient powered by electrogenic bacteria at the Asia-Pacific Innovation Summit in Shanghai last month.

Lectroglaze has a prebiotic effect that stimulates the skin microbiome production of bioelectricity, which neutralizes free radicals and helps prevent oxidative damage induced by UV light and aging.

Clinical studies conducted by Lubrizol’s Barcelona and Shanghai Beauty Research Institutes demonstrated significant visible improvements after four weeks of use, including a 10.2% reduction in pore length and a 14.2% reduction in pore area, resulting in smoother, healthier-looking skin.

A New Era of Collaborative Growth

The event in the Chinese city united over 150 industry leaders, technical experts and strategic partners to explore emerging trends in material science, discuss innovation-driven collaboration, and define new pathways for sustainable industry growth.

As industries undergo structural transformation and sustainability becomes a defining priority, company officials say market demand is becoming more diversified than ever. This evolution is driving a fundamental shift in innovation—from being primarily technology-led to being value- and impact-driven and collaboration-focused. Material science, once centered on technical breakthroughs, is now a “strategic enabler” linking innovation and application, creating value across industries, officials said.

“Diversified and rapidly evolving market demands are reshaping traditional industry models, propelling us toward an era of collaborative growth and value co-creation,” said Henry Liu, vice president, Lubrizol Asia Pacific. “Asia-Pacific, with its diverse markets, fast-paced innovation, and rich application scenarios, offers fertile ground for material science breakthroughs.”

He said by building a comprehensive R&D-manufacturing-co-creation loop, the company aims to accelerate the transformation of ideas into tangible value, helping their partners achieve growth and breakthroughs across dynamic market cycles.

“Asia-Pacific innovation centers serve as bridges—localizing global technologies while transforming regional insights into globally relevant solutions, realizing the value transformation from regional innovation to global application,” Liu added.

Lubrizol recently launched its Southeast Asia Innovation Center in Singapore and unveiled a new office in Jakarta. It is also actively expanding local production capacity for medical-grade thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in Shanghai, further strengthening regional collaboration, innovation and production capabilities.