Rejuran

Rejuran is a South Korean skincare brand owned by PharmaResearch, a biopharmaceutical company based in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. The name first belonged to an injectable treatment: PharmaResearch launched Rejuran in Korea in 2014 as a medical device built on polynucleotides (PN), purified DNA fragments taken from salmon [5]. Three years later the company carried the name over to a line of creams and serums, starting with the Rejuran Turnover Ampoule. That topical line, marketed as REJURAN COSMETICS, is built around c-PDRN®, a salmon-DNA ingredient the company says it has patented.

The brand is active and has grown quickly outside Korea in recent years. After reaching North American customers mainly through online marketplaces, the cosmetics line entered Sephora stores in the United States in March 2026 and in Canada in September 2026. Its American operation describes itself as based in Southern California, while the brand's origin and parent company are Korean.

PharmaResearch worked with salmon DNA long before Rejuran existed. According to NewBeauty, the company began using PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide, a purified DNA ingredient) as a pharmaceutical ingredient in the 1990s, sourcing it from wild salmon in one Korean province and working to produce it locally. PDRN itself had been used in medicine since the 1980s, first in Italy, mainly to help wounds heal. After years of research, PharmaResearch developed a patented processing method it calls DOT, short for DNA Optimizing Technology. NewBeauty places that step in 2009.

The injectable Rejuran grew directly out of this work. NewBeauty describes it as a PN-based medical device and dates its Korean launch to 2014. The treatment belongs to the category of injectable "skin boosters", in which the active ingredient is placed into the skin by a clinician. In 2025 NBC News Select called Rejuran "a well-known brand in medical skin care" for injectable PDRN and said it is behind one of the most popular injectable facials in South Korea [4]. A 2024 report in the Korean business daily Asia Economy noted that, after its success at home, PharmaResearch had begun exporting Rejuran the previous year [6].

No individual founders are publicly credited with creating the brand. Rejuran has always been a product line of PharmaResearch rather than a founder-led company.

Accounts of the brand's home country differ. Its US website says the company is "Headquartered in Southern California" and that its products are made in the USA [2]. Editorial and business coverage, including NewBeauty and Asia Economy, presents Rejuran as a PharmaResearch creation launched first in Korea. PharmaResearch's own announcements name a US subsidiary in Costa Mesa, California, which suggests the California address refers to the North American business rather than to where the brand began. This article follows the Korean origin.

PharmaResearch moved into topical skincare in 2017, launching the Rejuran Turnover Ampoule in Korea [5]. NewBeauty reports that the topical products use c-PDRN, a form of the ingredient made at a lower molecular weight than the PN used in the injectable. The magazine credits Rejuran with setting off a wider trend, in which other brands followed with their own PDRN serums, creams and masks.

The cosmetics business grew alongside the injectable. Asia Economy wrote in 2024 that PharmaResearch had launched cosmetics by drawing on the name recognition Rejuran had built, and that, with exports rising, total cosmetics sales were expected to grow by around 30 percent that year.

North America became the main focus of the brand's expansion. REJURAN COSMETICS first entered the market mainly through Amazon and TikTok Shop. In March 2026 it launched on sephora.com and then rolled out to roughly 380 Sephora stores across the United States from 16 March [8]. The launch was accompanied by pop-up events at The Americana at Brand and Irvine Spectrum Center. Announcing the move, PharmaResearch named Canada and Southeast Asia as further target markets.

The same month, PharmaResearch named the singer and actress Kim Sejeong as global brand ambassador for both the Rejuran injectable and REJURAN COSMETICS [9]. She began her career in the K-pop group I.O.I before moving into television dramas and musicals. The company described a global advertising campaign featuring her on television, outdoor media and digital platforms, aimed at consumers in their twenties and thirties.

By mid-2026 the overseas push was showing in PharmaResearch's figures. In July 2026 Asia Economy projected the company's cosmetics export sales for the second quarter at 33.9 billion won, up 73.9 percent on the year before, with the effect of the Sephora listing expected to show in full [7].

On 1 September 2026 the line launched across all 148 Sephora stores in Canada, where it was placed on the retailer's "Skincare Next Big Thing" display. Eight products went on sale in stores and online, among them the Turnover Ampoule and the Dual Effect Ampoule. Jooyeon Song, head of cosmetics at PharmaResearch USA, described Canada as an attractive growth market for the brand.

Rejuran is owned by PharmaResearch, which created both the injectable and the cosmetics line. The company develops pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics and supplements. At a GMP-certified factory in Gangneung (built to good-manufacturing-practice standards for medicines) it produces PDRN drugs such as Rejuvenex Injection. Its wider portfolio also includes Rian eye drops and Conjuran. For the first half of 2024 Asia Economy reported cumulative sales of 158 billion won and operating profit of 57.4 billion won, both up about 29 percent on the year before.

In the United States the brand is run through a PharmaResearch subsidiary in Costa Mesa, California. In 2026 the parent company moved to bring more production to North America. Asia Economy reported in July 2026 that PharmaResearch had acquired a 100 percent stake in Cosmetic Group USA, a California contract manufacturer [7]. A September 2026 company release described the deal as a planned acquisition announced in July, intended to strengthen local manufacturing and supply for REJURAN COSMETICS [10].

Rejuran presents itself as skincare drawn from medical research. Its US site says the line was born after decades of research on skin-healing and anti-aging ingredients. It states that it believes the power of nature, backed by science, can help return skin to its healthiest possible state. The mission statement and tagline turn on the same phrase: the brand says its aim is to help customers "rewrite" their skin story. In its announcements PharmaResearch calls REJURAN COSMETICS a premium dermatological skincare brand and Korea's first PDRN-based skincare line.

Close ties to the clinic are part of that positioning. The company says the topical products are recommended by dermatologists and sold in medical spas across the United States. Beyond Sephora and these clinics, the line is sold through its own online store and through online marketplaces.

On ingredients, the brand says its formulas leave out silicones, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and artificial dyes and fragrance. It also says it does not test on animals and uses eco-friendly packaging and ethically sourced ingredients. No third-party certifications are documented for these claims.

Where the products are made is described in two ways. The US site states that they are made in the USA. The 2026 manufacturing deal, framed as strengthening local production and supply, suggests that US manufacturing was still being built up at that time.

Every product in the line is built around c-PDRN®. The company describes it as a patented, naturally sourced ingredient made from hydrolysed salmon sperm DNA, small enough to reach beneath the outer layer of skin without an injection [3]. According to Rejuran, c-PDRN is clinically studied and proven to support skin repair and collagen production. The brand's science page links to clinical papers but does not name specific studies or publish percentage results. The company also says salmon DNA is structurally similar to human DNA.

The Turnover Ampoule remains the line's signature product. Other core items include the Dual Effect Ampoule, the Nutritive Cream, the Turnover Mask and the Recover c-PDRN® Lifting Ampoule. A smaller Pore Tightening range covers a toner pad, a cleansing balm and an ampoule. On its homepage the brand sets out a four-week timeline of expected changes, from skin that looks healthier in the first week to softer, more supple skin by the fourth.

Rejuran has been covered mainly as part of the wider interest in PDRN, often called "salmon sperm" skincare. In an August 2025 article, NBC News Select reported that the experts it consulted recommended the Turnover Ampoule as one of the best PDRN ampoules sold without a prescription. One expert said the serum contains 0.5 percent of the brand's PDRN concentrate.

The same article also carried caution from dermatologists. One dermatologist, Gohara, said there is real science showing PDRN can help wound healing and collagen production, but that most of the evidence comes from medical use on burns and ulcers rather than beauty treatments. She described the results of topical products as subtle at best compared with in-office procedures [4]. Other dermatologists in the piece made the same point: rubbing the ingredient onto the skin does not match the effect of injecting it.

No awards are documented for the brand.

Rejuran is active. Its most recent documented milestone is the nationwide Sephora Canada launch on 1 September 2026 [10], which followed the US Sephora rollout in March and the Cosmetic Group USA deal in July. The cosmetics line is sold in Korea, North America and parts of Asia. The separate Rejuran injectable is, according to PharmaResearch, used in more than 50 countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East; in July 2026 Asia Economy reported that shipments of Rejuran medical devices to Western Europe had begun in earnest.