Groupe Rocher and Dassault Systèmes have announced the start of a collaboration aimed at improving research and development in the field of natural cosmetics. The French cosmetics group intends to use virtual twin technology to support the formulation process, analyse the performance of active ingredients and predict their interactions with the skin. According to the announcement, the solution will combine generative artificial intelligence, chemical modelling and simulations with knowledge of plant-based ingredients. In practice, this is expected to make it possible to carry out predictive processes at early stages of product development, while reducing the number of laboratory trials. For Groupe Rocher, this means an effort to accelerate the development of new formulations while maintaining a scientific approach to product efficacy, naturalness and sustainability. The company states that finding the right formula currently requires an average of around 30 laboratory tests.
Groupe Rocher, a family-owned company founded in 1959, develops products for the cosmetics and wellness industry, and its portfolio includes Yves Rocher, Sabon, Arbonne and Dr Pierre Ricaud. According to the company, its team of 200 scientific experts works on analysing the potential of plants, studying their composition and mechanisms of action, developing extraction processes and creating formulations based on proprietary active ingredients. The collaboration with Dassault Systèmes is intended to support these activities with digital tools that will improve the efficiency of R&D teams and shorten the time needed to bring innovations to market.
Virtual twin technology in cosmetics formulation
As part of the collaboration, Dassault Systèmes will develop models of Groupe Rocher's proprietary active ingredients and of the skin. The work will be carried out under the Virtual Twin as a Service offering available on the 3DExperience platform. According to the information provided by the companies, virtual twins are intended to enable the analysis of data on ingredient interactions, the study of their penetration through the skin and the simulation of formulation performance with greater scientific precision even before the stage of full laboratory testing.
Under the assumptions of the project, the new approach is intended to provide Groupe Rocher teams with a framework for predictive analyses, complementing their expert competencies. The goal is to simultaneously improve the efficiency, flexibility and quality of R&D work. The companies state that reducing the number of tests is expected to shorten formulation development time by 20%, which should accelerate product launches.
Véronique Schwartz-Boishu, Chief Scientific Officer at Groupe Rocher, said: "Our innovation strategy is based on a rigorous scientific approach and high research standards, enabling us to offer customers products that combine proven performance, natural ingredients and sustainability. Dassault Systèmes' recognised expertise in virtual twins and artificial intelligence will allow us to better predict the effectiveness of our active ingredients and to develop increasingly effective and natural formulas more quickly."
The first stage will focus on ice plant
The first stage of the collaboration will focus on the plant known as ice plant. As indicated, this raw material is known for its ability to adapt to extreme conditions, and its properties inspired the development of the Yves Rocher Lift Pro Collagene anti-ageing line. The partners are expected to extend the project to additional active ingredients at a later stage.
Elisa Prisner, Executive Vice President, Strategy, Industry, Marketing and Transformation at Dassault Systèmes, said: "Business competition, margin pressure and growing consumer expectations are pushing companies in the cosmetics sector to innovate not only faster, but also in a more considered way. Our virtual twins, grounded in science and supported by artificial intelligence, will enable Groupe Rocher to run simulations and predictions, as well as optimise formulas in a reliable and secure cloud environment, in order to build a scalable innovation model based on plant science."
The announced collaboration shows that tools already widely used in industry are also finding applications in the cosmetics sector, especially where the modelling of the properties of materials and substances, the reduction of physical trials and the shortening of development cycles are important. In this case, the technology is intended to support the process of creating cosmetic formulations through more precise analysis of active plant ingredients and their interaction with the skin.
