Glycolic acid has been made the same way since the 1930s.
The process starts with formaldehyde. It’s cheap, it’s efficient, and it’s been the industry standard for nearly a century — which is why most formulators have never questioned it, and most beauty shoppers have never heard about it.
In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Lorraine Dallmeier sits down with Vikram Pandit, co-founder and CEO of Phycus Biotechnologies, the Canadian company that has just launched what they claim to be the world’s first commercially available fermentation-derived glycolic acid.
The conversation covers why two chemically identical molecules can behave differently on skin, what’s actually lurking in the impurity profile of conventional glycolic acid, and what the published irritation data means for formulators.
If you’ve ever used a glycolic product and assumed the source didn’t matter, this episode is worth your time.
“The manufacturing process matters — and it produces a better end product.” — Vikram Pandit, Phycus Biotechnologies
In this episode with Vikram Pandit, you will hear:
- What glycolic acid actually is and why it’s become one of skincare’s most talked-about ingredients. Glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid first developed by DuPont in the 1930s, now found in everything from drugstore toners to high-performance peels. It had a major resurgence during COVID when The Ordinary’s 30% glycolic acid peel went viral in the US, and the market has been growing at around 6% year-on-year ever since.
- Why nearly all commercial glycolic acid is made from formaldehyde. The conventional manufacturing process dates back almost a hundred years and uses formaldehyde or monochloroacetic acid as starting materials. While the final molecule is chemically identical regardless of how it’s made, the impurity profile differs — and Phycus’s research suggests those trace differences have measurable consequences for skin.
- The irritation study that changes the terms of the natural versus synthetic debate. Phycus ran IL-1α irritation studies comparing Purolic Acid (their biobased glycolic acid) against conventional petrochemical glycolic acids and published the results in SOFW journal. The difference in irritation markers was statistically significant — and Purolic Acid also tested as less irritating than leading fruit extracts.
- How Phycus sources its feedstocks and what the lower-impact credentials actually rest on. The company uses upcycled FSC-certified wood and waste molasses as fermentation feedstocks, closing the carbon cycle rather than drawing on petrochemicals. Vik claims a 40% reduction in carbon footprint versus conventional processes, backed by a full lifecycle analysis.
Key takeouts include:
- Chemically identical does not mean functionally identical. Two samples of glycolic acid with the same molecular structure can have different impurity profiles depending on how they were made, and those impurities can produce measurable differences in how skin responds. The same variation exists between different petrochemical suppliers, which is why choosing reputable ingredient sources matters regardless of which version a formulator uses.
- The fermentation-derived version outperformed fruit extracts too. Using fruit extracts as a workaround to avoid petrochemical glycolic acid is common, but Phycus found Purolic Acid showed lower irritation markers than leading fruit extracts. Vik’s explanation is that fruit extracts are inherently mixed and less pure, carrying colour, odour, and a range of other organic acids alongside the glycolic acid.
- Greenwashing has made consumer education harder. Glycolic acid has long been marketed as a “fruit acid,” implying a natural origin, when almost all commercial glycolic acid is petrochemically derived. When Phycus tells potential customers it has produced the world’s first natural glycolic acid, the response is often “I thought it already was.” Vik’s wish is that formulators and beauty shoppers would understand the difference between an ingredient that occurs in nature and one that’s actually made from natural sources.
- The industry is starting to put measurable metrics behind lower-impact claims. The shift Vik observes among larger brands is away from vague “natural” storytelling and towards quantified environmental metrics — full lifecycle carbon costs, traceable supply chains, and verified certifications rather than marketing language.
- For indie brands, this is a differentiation opportunity — if the price works. In a crowded alpha-hydroxy acid market, where most products look similar, being able to cite published irritation data behind a fermentation-derived glycolic acid is a concrete point of difference.
Meet our guest: Vikram Pandit, Founder of Phycus Biotechnologies
Vikram Pandit is the co-founder and CEO of Phycus Biotechnologies, a Canadian company developing fermentation-based alternatives to petrochemical ingredients for the cosmetics industry.
He holds a PhD in Metabolic Engineering and a BASc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, where he spent six years as a graduate researcher before founding Phycus in 2017.
The company’s flagship product, Purolic Acid, is the only commercially available fermentation-derived glycolic acid, produced using microorganisms and renewable feedstocks including FSC-certified wood and waste molasses.
Find out more about Phycus Biotechnologies:
- Website: phycusbio.com
- LinkedIn: Phycus Biotechnologies
Related episodes:
- Episode 311: The palm oil alternative that doesn’t rely on trees
- Episode 319: Your skincare is made from fossil fuels
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.
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Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.
