On June 15, the company announced that Bioré GUARD Mos Block Serum would make its debut in Thailand.
This follows the launch of Kao’s campaign to reduce the spread of dengue fever in the South East Asian region in February this year.
As part of the campaign, Kao donated 80,000 pieces of Bioré GUARD Mos Block Serum to Thailand in February. It also pledged TBH6.5m for research and development projects by the Thai Ministry of Public Health.
Currently, the firm has no plans to launch this product in Japan. The company told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that its focus is to launch the product in areas where “people really need it”, namely in SEA, where dengue fever is a persistent health issue.
Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquito species. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 390 million people are affected by the disease each year.
According to the organisation, of the 3.5 billion people around the world living in dengue endemic countries and are at risk of contracting dengue fever, 1.3 billion are from 10 countries in the SEA region.
The company is already planning to launch Bioré GUARD Mos Block Serum in Indonesia in 2023 and will make plans to expand it further.
However, the firm has not planned anything further than Indonesia as it still has to undergo individual laws and regulation of each country.
What’s the buzz?
Bioré GUARD Mos Block Serum is based on a mechanism developed by Kao and contains natural citronella oil.
This research was first announced late 2021 as part of Kao’s medium-term management strategy to develop technology and products to protect peoples’ lives.
With this ground-breaking research, Kao was able to develop a mosquito repellent without conventional ingredients like N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) and picaridin.
This technology utilises low-viscosity silicone oil to prevent mosquitoes from landing on the skin. According to Kao, mosquitoes dislike this hydrophobic oil surface, preventing them from staying long enough to feed.
This is unlike conventional insect repellents which deter mosquitoes by masking its smell and taste, as they are attracted to skin odours and carbon dioxide.
According to Kao’s own research, which was published in Scientific Reports, 85% of female mosquitoes that landed on non-coated skin displayed blood-feeding behaviour while only 4% displayed such behaviour on skin where low-viscosity silicone oil had been applied.
In addition, Kao claims that this formula is not sticky on the skin, making the texture as comfortable to apply as a serum.
In its latest research, the company found that this technology could be combined with citronella oil or DEET to increase the mosquito repellent effect, which led to the development of Bioré GUARD Mos Block Serum.