Vytrus Biotech launched Hydranode – Empowering skin hydric potential at in-cosmetics Asia 2026 in Bangkok, a new biotech active that brings a new approach to one of the most established categories in cosmetics: hydration.
For decades, skin hydration has relied on humectants that attract water and barrier agents that limit water loss. Both remain essential, but they work by addition, bringing short-term comfort without restoring the skin's own ability to manage water. Yet the skin is not a passive reservoir: it constantly distributes, conserves and mobilises water through the Skin Hydric Interactome, the network connecting the exposome, the skin microbiota, the epidermis and the deep skin layers.
Hydranode proposes a new cosmetic logic: activate the skin's own water management, do not just add water to it.
Inspired by a Mediterranean forest in La Garrotxa (Catalonia) that Vytrus protects, the active reproduces the adaptive metabolism of a drought-resilient bacterium in bioreactors, through the Microbial Biofactories platform. The result is a ferment rich in Microbial Hormetins, exopolysaccharides and proteins that act as a mild adaptive signal on the skin microbiota. The microbiota responds by boosting its communication with the skin, which activates a coordinated hydration programme: increased AQP3 for water transport, FFAR2 for microbiota–skin communication, filaggrin for water retention and hyaluronic acid for the deep water reservoir.
Clinical studies in volunteers with normal-to-dry skin demonstrated efficacy from day 7, boosting surface and deep hydration, evening out water distribution, visibly plumping the skin and supporting a balanced microbiota. Hydranode is 100% natural origin (ISO 16128), COSMOS approved, Halal certified and China compliant.
For formulators, Hydranode opens new opportunities in advanced hydration, plumping and microbiota-friendly skin care.
Discover Hydranode or contact Vytrus Biotech at customer@vytrus.com for further information.
