Seppic Swaps Shark Liver Oil for Plant-Derived Squalane in New Polymer Line

Seppic has launched Sepilife NEOS, a patented liquid polymer that swaps out shark liver oil, the traditional source of squalane, for a plant-derived version, according to Home & Personal Care Middle East & Africa. The change matters less for marketing than for supply chains: shark-derived squalane depends on fisheries byproducts subject to seasonal catch limits and regulatory scrutiny, while vegetable-derived squalane, typically pressed from olive oil, sugarcane or amaranth, runs through agricultural supply networks that formulators can source and scale more predictably.

For a French specialty ingredients manufacturer that supplies formulators across the cosmetics industry, that sourcing distinction has become a procurement issue as much as an ethical one. Squalane already appears in roughly a third of skincare launches, per Seppic's own figures cited by HPC Magazine, meaning any supplier still tied to marine-derived stock faces exposure to fluctuating raw material availability and the reputational risk of animal-origin ingredients in a category increasingly built around clean-label claims.

Sepilife NEOS is formulated to meet the EU's draft restriction on synthetic polymer microplastics, positioning it as non-microplastic under criteria that are tightening compound by compound across the bloc. For manufacturers running multi-region production lines, that compliance status removes a formulation variable before it becomes a reformulation cost later, a consideration that increasingly drives ingredient selection earlier in the development pipeline rather than after a product has already reached shelves.

On the processing side, Seppic describes the polymer as offering broad compatibility across acidic pH, solvents, preservatives and alpha-hydroxy acids, along with what the company calls excellent sprayability. Those are not minor technical footnotes for a company selling into contract manufacturers: a rheology modifier that tolerates a wider pH and preservative range reduces the number of separate formulations a manufacturer needs to stock and test, which in turn narrows batch variation and shortens qualification cycles when a brand wants to launch across serums, sprays and emulsions using the same base polymer.

Anna Dessaint, product manager at Seppic, said the launch "brings a new dimension to our hybrid polymer portfolio," positioning Sepilife NEOS alongside existing lines like Simulgel and the earlier Sepilife G305, a biodegradable polymer the company introduced under the same naturality-focused push. The pattern points to a broader retooling of Seppic's ingredient catalog around plant-based inputs, a shift that, if it holds, will push cost and sourcing pressure further upstream toward the agricultural suppliers now expected to keep pace with a cosmetics industry moving away from animal byproducts one polymer line at a time.