Lactisol

Lactisol is a German line of skin-care products, traditional medicines and dietary products built around a single raw material: fermented sour whey. It is not a standalone company but a registered product name of Galactopharm Dr. Sanders GmbH & Co. KG, a family-owned pharmaceutical firm based in Sögel, in the Emsland district of Lower Saxony [3]. The skin range includes a cream, two ointments, a soap, a shower gel and a tincture, while other products under the same name are taken by mouth for digestion.

What sets the line apart is its age and its narrow focus. Galactopharm traces its roots to a company founded in Karlsruhe in 1923 and has been in the sole ownership of one family since 1926. Every Lactisol product rests on a whey concentrate made with a process patented by the company's founder, and the firm presents its work as the continuation of a century-old idea rather than a modern cosmetics concept. The brand is active, with new products still being added to the range.

The story begins with Molkur AG, a Karlsruhe company founded in 1923, from which Galactopharm later emerged [2]. Its founder, Heinrich Niermann, developed and patented a method that, according to the company, made sour whey keep indefinitely without refrigeration while enhancing its useful properties. Galactopharm says this process made it possible for the first time to use sour whey in a wide range of goods, from lemonades and chocolates to animal feed.

The company's name comes from galactose, a sugar contained in whey. The Lactisol name itself has no published launch date: the company describes the history of its whey concentrates and of the firm, but not when this particular product line was introduced. For that reason this article treats 1923 as the origin of the company lineage rather than as the founding year of the Lactisol brand.

Galactopharm places its work in a longer medical tradition. It notes that whey was long valued in medical circles and that whey cures were widespread at the start of the 20th century, and it quotes an 18th-century physician, Tissot, who called whey one of the greatest remedies. These are the company's own framing of its heritage, not claims about Lactisol's effectiveness.

The early history of the concentrates had little to do with skin care. According to Galactopharm, sour whey concentrates had their greatest importance up to the 1940s, after a chance discovery that they worked against foot-and-mouth disease in pigs and cattle. The company attributes this to their high lactic acid content, which it says gave them a disinfecting effect against bacteria and viruses. Until 1942 the concentrates were used purely as a veterinary medicine against the disease [2].

At the same time, the company says, the concentrates were tested on people, which pointed to further uses in human medicine, such as warding off flu-like infections. Galactopharm describes the products that grew out of this period as long-established remedies that remain as relevant today as when they were first developed.

In 2006 Galactopharm began offering development and contract manufacturing of health products to trade partners, putting its production capacity at the service of other companies alongside its own lines [6]. In 2018 it entered a research cooperation on the skin microbiome, the community of microorganisms living on the skin, with Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands and a further Dutch partner, a project funded through the European Interreg programme [8].

The company's own statements about its age differ. Its homepage says Galactopharm has accompanied people and animals with sour whey and lactic acid "for over 100 years" [1], while its company profile still describes it as a traditional firm with an almost 90-year history [2]. Both statements refer back to the same 1923 origin; the founding date of the lineage itself is not in dispute.

Lactisol belongs to Galactopharm Dr. Sanders GmbH & Co. KG, which also holds the German marketing authorisation for Lactisol Creme [13]. The firm has been owned outright by the founding family since 1926. It is run today in the fourth generation by pharmacist Dr. Stephan Sanders, the founder's great-grandson [2].

Galactopharm describes itself as a smaller pharmaceutical company. Beyond Lactisol, its range includes several other whey-based lines, among them Lactivagin for intimate care, the Lactiguttin liquids and the Lactidorm capsules. It also produces liquid concentrates for industry, as well as medicines, cosmetics and foods. No acquisitions or changes of ownership are known.

Galactopharm sums up its outlook in the motto "Das Gute von gestern, für das Beste von morgen", roughly "the good of yesterday, for the best of tomorrow". The company says it sees its long history not as a burden but as an incentive to preserve what works and improve it. It names continuous research, close contact with doctors, naturopathic practitioners (Heilpraktiker) and patients, and strict self-imposed product standards as the means to that end.

Sour whey is, in the company's words, its passion. Galactopharm calls it a mineral- and vitamin-rich raw material with unusual properties in health care, and its current homepage speaks of a deep trust in the wisdom of nature and a responsibility to make use of it carefully. The tone is that of a traditional health company rather than a beauty brand: the products are presented as gentle, natural support for the body, with separate service pages aimed at doctors and practitioners, pharmacies, and patients and consumers.

A recurring theme is so-called right-turning lactic acid. Lactic acid comes in two mirror-image forms, known as L(+) and D(−). Galactopharm says the L(+) form is the more effective and biologically more valuable of the two, while the D(−) form is weaker and harder for the body to break down. The company stresses that its concentrates contain the L(+) form.

All Lactisol products share the same active ingredient, a concentrate of fermented sour whey. According to Galactopharm, the whey matures for at least six months, producing a concentrate that can contain up to 20 percent L(+) lactic acid. The company says the result keeps most of the valuable components of milk, apart from fat and protein, in a form the body can take up easily.

The skin range is the part of Lactisol closest to beauty and personal care. Lactisol Creme is the best-known item; the company says its active ingredient has been used in skin care for more than 100 years and describes the cream as free from colourants and from preservatives such as parabens. Lactisol 12,5 Salbe and Lactisol 29,8 Salbe are ointments named after their strength: 100 g of the first contains 12.5 g of sour whey concentrate, with a maximum of 10 percent lactic acid [7], and the stronger version contains 29.8 g of concentrate. Lactisol Seife is a soap developed for cleansing dry and scaly skin, and Lactisol Duschbad is a shower gel that the company says is formulated to match the skin's natural acid mantle, the slightly acidic protective film on its surface. Lactisol Tinktur, a tincture, is among the newest additions.

Several of these skin products are registered traditional medicines rather than cosmetics. Lactisol Creme and both ointments carry the regulatory wording that they are traditionally used to support skin function in dry, scaly skin, and that this indication rests solely on tradition and long experience [4]. In other words, the claim is not based on clinical trials. In German drug listings, Lactisol Creme appears as a non-prescription medicine that may be sold freely, classed among emollients and skin protectives (ATC code D02AX) [13]. Its package information notes that contact dermatitis has been observed in very rare cases and lists several fragrance components, such as linalool and geraniol, that can cause allergic reactions. Galactopharm also describes one of its skin products as containing lanolin and sunflower oil and as intended for irritations such as sunburn, itching and tightness.

The rest of the line moves away from the skin. Lactisol liquidum, drops made from the same whey concentrate, is a traditional medicine used to support digestive function. Further products under the name include Lactisol Kapseln N and Kapseln Plus, Lactisol Pro Kids, Lactisol strength & agility, Lactisol Karamellen (candies) and Lactisol Lipidbalance, a powder.

All products are made in Germany. Galactopharm states that it manufactures and tests them under international quality rules, including the EU directive on good manufacturing practice for medicines (2003/94/EC), the ISO 13485 standard and the EU medical devices directive (93/42/EEC). No independent cosmetics certifications, such as organic or cruelty-free labels, are known for the line.

Lactisol is an active brand. Galactopharm's web shop continues to sell the full range, Lactisol Tinktur is listed among the company's new products, and customer reviews on the shop's Lactisol liquidum page are dated as recently as April 2026 [5]. The products are sold through the company's own web shop and through pharmacies, including online pharmacies [14]. The brand's presence is centred on Germany, and it is identified with pharmacy-grade traditional remedies more than with the mainstream beauty market.