Ibiotics

Ibiotics is a German skincare brand built around the skin microbiome, the community of bacteria that lives on the skin's surface. It was placed on the market in 2017 by BELANO medical AG, a Berlin biotechnology company, and grew out of the research of microbiologist Christine Lang [5]. Its products rest on a single ingredient, stimulans®, which the company describes as a patented active derived from a lactic acid bacterium. The range is split into a medical line for skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis and a cosmetic line for everyday care.

The brand's story took a turn in late 2023, when BELANO medical AG filed for insolvency. In 2024 its product line and brands passed to Rigix GmbH, a company of the Laves pharmaceutical family based in Ronnenberg near Hanover, which now operates, sells and manufactures Ibiotics products. The brand remains active under its new owner.

Ibiotics traces its roots to Christine Lang, a microbiologist who teaches at Technische Universität Berlin. Before the brand existed, she had spent years in industrial and academic research on yeasts and bacteria. In 2001 she co-founded the Berlin biotechnology firm Organobalance, which specialised in developing microbial strains and later became part of the Danish enzyme group Novozymes. Her research there produced, among other things, Pylopass, an ingredient based on a lactic acid bacterium that binds the stomach germ Helicobacter pylori.

The brand's own account puts Lang at the centre. Its "About us" page names her as the founder and says she was the first to recognise the importance of the microbiome for the skin, then turned that knowledge into an active ingredient [2]. Ibiotics, the page says, was started from a wish to create something that genuinely helps the skin, above all for people living with skin conditions. The company presents Lang as inventor, founder and head of research and development, and notes that she chaired the German government's Bioeconomy Council from 2012 to 2019.

Independent accounts add a second name. According to Wikipedia, Lang founded Organobalance Medical AG together with Bernd Wegener in 2010; that company was later renamed Belano Medical AG and is the one that launched Ibiotics [7]. Wegener is thus a co-founder of the company behind the brand, while the brand's own materials credit Lang alone as its founder.

The founding date depends on which entity is meant. Ibiotics itself dates its start to 2017, when BELANO medical AG put the line on the market as, in its words, the first near-natural microbiotic skincare products [5]. The developing company, however, goes back to 2010, when Organobalance Medical AG was founded [7]. This article follows the brand's market launch in 2017 as its founding year and treats 2010 as the founding of the parent company.

In its early years the brand focused on the medical range. In a 2018 interview with the medical publisher mdm Verlag, Lang described the new ibiotics med series as medical skin care made up of a basic lotion, an acute "SOS" cream, a high-strength intensive cream and a cleansing lotion. She stressed that the products contain an extract of a Lactobacillus strain rather than live cultures [9].

In March 2020 BELANO medical exhibited at the Beauty trade fair in Düsseldorf, presenting its medical skincare line to professionals. A company press release issued ahead of the fair framed the products as an option for people with atopic dermatitis, whose skin flora is out of balance [11]. In the release, Lang argued that common treatments containing cortisone or antibiotics can further harm the skin's bacterial balance. From 2021, according to Wikipedia, the company cooperated with Henkel Germany and the Müller retail chain.

The company's run ended in mid-November 2023, when Belano Medical AG filed for insolvency [7]. A financial news report dated 11 April 2024 announced that Rigix GmbH would take over its product line and brands, including the patents, and continue serving existing customer relationships [10].

Since the 2024 takeover, Ibiotics has belonged to Rigix GmbH of Ronnenberg, a town near Hanover. The brand's legal notice names Rigix as operator of the online shop and as seller and manufacturer of the products, with Jens Laves as its representative [3]. Rigix is part of the Laves family of companies, which also includes Laves Arzneimittel GmbH, a mid-sized, family-owned pharmaceutical firm.

The move had a logic beyond rescue. According to the takeover report, Laves already used and sold several active ingredients developed by Lang and BELANO medical, among them Pylopass for stomach and gut products and stimulans in its own Dermabiogen skin cream. The same report noted that Laves had established sales channels through pharmacies, medical specialists and naturopaths. Lang welcomed the deal, saying she was glad the products and ideas could continue in the spirit of their founders.

The change of owner also shifted the brand's registered base. Ibiotics still describes itself as "beauty and health from Berlin" [4], reflecting where the brand and its science originated. Its current operator, however, is registered in Ronnenberg.

Ibiotics sums up its approach in the phrase "Hilf der Haut, sich selbst zu helfen", which translates as "help the skin to help itself". The idea, as the company explains it, is to feed the beneficial bacteria already living on the skin so that they crowd out harmful germs and support the skin's own repair. In this view, a balanced microbiome is the foundation of both healthy and good-looking skin, from infancy onward.

The brand's tagline is "Haut in Harmonie" ("skin in harmony"), and it lists its values as honest, effective and free of false promises. Its stated aim is care "that delivers more than it promises". On product safety, the company says every formula is backed by research and must pass microbiological tests before release.

The two product lines carry different roles. According to Ibiotics, ibiotics med is basic care for skin problems and skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne and rosacea, where it is meant to ease inflammation, itching, scaling and redness. The cosmetic line, ibiotics beauty, is aimed at daily care of healthy skin and at preventing problems by strengthening the microbiome. The brand's own shop is in German, and its information pages are organised around skin conditions such as eczema, itching and scalp problems as well as routine care.

Everything in the range centres on stimulans®. The company calls it a patented microbiotic active obtained from a special lactic acid bacterium, and says it stimulates the useful bacteria on the skin, helping to restore the skin's protective acid layer after washing or disinfecting. In the 2018 interview, Lang explained that the Lactobacillus strain produces peptides that stimulate the skin's resident bacteria. The brand does not give a patent number on its website.

The medical line includes the ibiotics med Akutpflegecreme (acute care cream) and Intensivcreme (intensive cream), both sold without a prescription. The wider range covers face cleansing, face masks, hand care, scalp care, anti-ageing products and baby care. Products promoted on the brand's homepage include a hand cream and an ibiotics® Baby Hydro Gel developed for infants' skin, alongside a hydro-gel for stressed hands.

The company lists several things its products leave out. It says they contain no parabens and no mineral oil, and that the medical line contains no fragrance. It also states that it does not test its products on animals. No third-party certifications are documented.

Ibiotics makes strong claims about efficacy. It says a user test with 250 participants showed the ibiotics med products to be effective in more than 80 percent of cases [4]. It also states that clinical studies have shown its products can reduce or even replace preparations containing cortisone, and describes the effect of stimulans® as scientifically proven. These statements come from the company itself; its website does not name the studies.

An independent account comes from the Deutscher Neurodermitis Bund, a German patient association for people with atopic dermatitis. It reported that 250 people with the condition tested the Akutpflegecreme and Intensivcreme for four weeks in cooperation with the association [8]. All participants had mild to moderate atopic dermatitis, and 85 percent rated their itching as moderate to very strong. According to the association's report, itching was well relieved after use, while dryness, redness and inflammation decreased. The report's headline described the new microbiome care as successfully tested, and it said members of the association recommend the ibiotics med line.

The brand's environmental claims are modest and concrete. Ibiotics uses airless pump dispensers, which it says allow it to avoid preservatives while keeping formulas stable and effective. The company also says it is working towards lower-impact packaging, with packaging made from a high share of recycled material as a first step.

Ibiotics is active. Its online shop remains live in 2026, with a current product range and a copyright line naming Rigix GmbH. After BELANO medical AG's 2023 insolvency the brand kept its name, its stimulans®-based formulas and its split between medical and cosmetic care. Christine Lang, meanwhile, established the Biobased Future Foundation in 2024 to support research on bio-based processes.