Marketed as ‘next generation collagen for skin beauty’, the launch comes off the back of a newly published study comparing avvera to an established commercially-available collagen and suggesting it led to a greater reduction in wrinkles at the four week mark.
“Very often the customers these days are saying, okay, another collagen peptide. Nice. But what does it mean?” said Hans-Ulrich Frech, commercial director, collagen peptides, at Italgel. “That’s why we made this study not comparing with a placebo, but with another collagen peptide which is strong in the market.”
Funded by Italgel, researchers from contract research lab Bionos Biotech S.L, Spain, conducted a double-blind, parallel-group, eight-week study involving 67 healthy women (aged 38–66) who were randomized to receive 2.5 g/day of either avvera or a comparison collagen peptide.
Skin hydration (Corneometer), transepidermal water loss (TEWL; Tewameter), and crow’s-feet wrinkle (VISIA-CR 3D imaging) parameters were assessed at baseline, day 28, and day 56.
Published in the journal Nutrafoods, resulting data indicated both groups showed improvements in skin hydration at day 28 (29.2% for avvera vs 26.7% active control) and day 56 (43.5% for avvera vs 42.9% active control).
The report concluded that avvera showed an earlier reduction in crow’s-feet wrinkle area and length at day 28, but between-group differences were limited at day 56.
Italgel claims avvera’s fast action is a result of its trademarked production technology ‘High-Dration System’ which increases the amount of water stored in the skin while simultaneously reducing water loss via improved epidermal barrier function.
“Water retention is a typical value or a measurement, but what is rarely measured is the skin barrier function, which controls water loss,” said Frech.
The firm hopes to provide brands with a marketing advantage through its trademarked brand and technology.
“We are not the only ones offering this kind of product, so offering a trademark license gives the opportunity to take into customers promotion,” Frech said, adding that Italy brings connotations of quality and beauty.
“Italy is linked to all kinds of beauty and prestige, from fashion, to cars, to the beautiful city itself,” said Frech. “Speaking to manufacturers in the US and Brazil, they say they love Italian products and one even wanted to use the Italian flag next to the trademark on pack.”
What’s more, he argued its low daily dose of 2.5g makes the ingredient easy to integrate into a range of formats.
“Having a lower daily dose supports the integration of the ingredient into multiple applications which fit into daily routines, such as a daily ‘shot’, or small sick packs, or gels,” said Frech.
Competitor comparison
Both products evaluated in the study consisted of hydrolyzed bovine collagen, with a similar mean molecular weight of approximately 2.0 kDa (kilodalton).
According to the report, a key distinction between the two lies in their enzymatic hydrolysis processes, which “may involve different enzyme types, combinations, processing sequences, reaction times, and conditions”.
The report additionally included an in-vitro study in which human skin cells were incubated for 72 hours with the two preparations at two doses (0.1% and 0.01% w/v).
The resulting data indicated that the two doses of avvera increased pro-collagen I production by 92% and 84.3%, compared with increases of 68.4% and 31.6% for the active control. However, the report noted between-group differences were not statistically significant.
Noted limitations of the study in the report included the relatively short duration and small sample size.
The report concluded: “Collectively, the measured improvements in hydration, TEWL, and early wrinkle metrics position avvera as a promising and clinically effective oral collagen peptide, delivering earlier-onset benefits than the active control under the conditions tested and providing a triple-endpoint profile (hydration, barrier function and wrinkles) that appears less frequently documented in the existing collagen peptide literature.”
Source: Nutrafoods, DOI: https://doi.org/10.17470NF-026-0078 ,“A comparative study of the impact of two bioactive collagen peptides on skin properties and clinical signs of aging”, Authors: Basés Pérez, E., Meissner, J.M., and Baixauli, E.
