Over the past 24 months, OTC leaders have made a quiet but telling shift. Neutrogena is no longer just selling topical skincare; it has launched AI-powered, personalized ingestible solutions.
Haleon is embedding academic microbiome labs directly into its R&D engine. Sanofi and Zentiva are acquiring validated wellness brands rather than waiting years for internal pipelines to mature.
These moves point to a new shift. The future of OTC innovation is being built outside traditional R&D boundaries.
As consumer expectations shift toward personalization, scientific credibility, and holistic health outcomes, leading OTC players are increasingly relying on collaborations with startups, universities, and category specialists to stay competitive.
This article examines three collaboration trends now reshaping OTC innovation at scale.
Trend 1: OTC Giants are teaming up with AI and Digital Health startups
OTC companies have realized that the next wave of consumer health innovation will be driven not by formulations alone but by algorithms, diagnostics, biological insights, and personalization engines. That shift is evident in the partnerships Kenvue and Haleon are forming with digital health and AI-first players.
Neutrogena x Nourished
Kenvue’s subsidiary, Neutrogena, has teamed up with Nourished (a 3D-printing–based personalized supplement company) to launch “Skin360 SkinStacks”. It is a line of personalized 3D-printed skin health supplements.
The “personalization” is powered by AI-based digital skin assessment, where users take a selfie (via Neutrogena’s “Skin360” skin-analysis tool), the algorithm evaluates 2000+ facial attributes, then recommends a “nutrient stack” tailored to the user’s five different skin goals, i.e., ageless, clear, hydration, glow, and resilient.
Once the algorithm outputs the skin need profile, Nourished uses 3D printing to produce a multi-layer gummy stack (vegan, sugar-free) that combines various nutrients, including vitamins A-D, selenium, zinc, riboflavin, coenzyme Q10, and more, delivered in 100% plastic-free, home-compostable packaging.
This marks a shift for Neutrogena/Kenvue: moving beyond traditional topical products into ingestible and digital skin-health solutions — blending tech (AI + digital diagnostics), personalized nutrition/supplementation, and direct-to-consumer delivery.
Neutrogena x Haut.AI
In September 2025, Haut.AI announced a collaboration with Neutrogena to refresh the legacy Skin360™ skin-analysis platform by embedding Haut.AI’s advanced AI-driven skin analysis engine.
The upgraded Skin360 uses a single selfie (live or uploaded). It assesses it via Haut.AI’s Live Image Quality Assurance (LIQA) system to evaluate eight skin indicators — hydration, smoothness, even tone, radiance, firmness, dark spots, wrinkles, and overall clarity/skin health.
Based on algorithmic scoring and a short questionnaire, the system provides a personalized “Skin360 Score” (1-10) and recommends tailored skincare products and a complete morning/evening regimen from Neutrogena’s portfolio.
The refresh improves user experience with: higher algorithmic accuracy, ability to suggest products for multiple skin concerns (not just one), more explicit ingredient mapping, and a streamlined recommendation flow, all enabled by the AI engine.
The renewed Skin360 experience is now live in the US and Canada via Neutrogena’s online and selected retail channels.
Haleon x Hologram Sciences
Haleon partnered with Hologram Sciences (a personalized wellness and diagnostics company backed by Royal DSM) to leverage Hologram Science’s unique personalized nutrition innovation process and Haleon’s deep human insights and trusted science. The partnership will address consumer health concerns in areas such as healthy aging, while exploring commercial opportunities in the United States. It will also include co-developing future supplementation concepts that offer more holistic, science-backed, personalized solutions that empower people to meet their individual wellness goals.
This partnership positions Haleon not just as an OTC brand owner but as a personalized health-solution provider.
Haleon x Brightseed
In 2025, Haleon and Brightseed announced a strategic collaboration to advance the discovery of plant-based small molecules with the potential to improve human health, leveraging Brightseed’s proprietary AI platform, Forager®.
Forager is a cutting-edge AI platform that maps bioactives and other natural sources that impact human biology by identifying their mechanisms of action. Haleon’s scientists will have direct access to Forager through this partnership, which will help discover next-generation natural health solutions.
Trend 2: Academia becomes the Microbiome R&D backbone
Microbiome-based claims are gaining enormous traction across oral health, digestive support, skin health, respiratory wellness, and healthy aging. But developing credible microbiome solutions requires specialized wet labs, sequencing, computational biology, and clinical expertise that OTC R&D teams do not maintain internally. This is why academic labs have become essential partners.
Haleon x UC San Diego
Haleon recently partnered with the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), to accelerate the development of microbiome-based health solutions. The collaboration combines CMI’s scientific expertise with Haleon’s clinical capabilities and well-known science-driven health brands across categories, including over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS).
Haleon aims to apply microbiome research to improve product development across healthy aging, cardiovascular and cognitive health, women’s health, and overall well-being. The partnership will also give CMI’s early-career researchers opportunities to work closely with industry.
This collaboration signals Haleon’s ambition to build evidence-backed microbiome claims that stand up to regulatory and scientific scrutiny.
Haleon x Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)
Haleon has partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University through a £192,000 Knowledge Transfer Partnership to advance research on the oral microbiome and develop next-generation oral care products. The collaboration will examine how oral bacteria interact with products such as Sensodyne, Aquafresh, and Corsodyl to help Haleon develop more targeted and effective formulations. Supported by GCU’s leading oral microbiology experts, the partnership strengthens Haleon’s oral health innovation efforts.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) x University of Cincinnati (UC)
Procter & Gamble has partnered with the University of Cincinnati to develop faster, more precise methods for studying how antibacterial agents work, using spectroscopy and nanostar nanoparticles. The collaboration helps P&G accelerate product development by identifying bacterial responses at the molecular level, offering a potential leap forward in antibacterial research. The partnership also provides UC students with hands-on industrial R&D experience, bridging academic science with real-world product innovation.
Trend 3: Acquisitions become a fast track for portfolio expansion
As consumer needs fragment into niches: women’s health, digestive wellness, healthy aging, natural sleep, and heart support, OTC companies face pressure to expand rapidly. Internal R&D cycles often take years. Acquisitions, by contrast, offer immediate access to validated products, regulatory approval, manufacturing capacity, and existing consumer bases.
Zentiva x Aboca
Zentiva has acquired five heritage natural-health brands from Aboca, strengthening its Consumer Healthcare presence across Europe, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France. The acquisition boosts Zentiva’s position in fast-growing self-care categories such as Respiratory, Circulatory, and Calm & Sleep, aligning with rising consumer demand for natural, sustainably sourced solutions. These additions complement Zentiva’s existing CHC portfolio and support long-term growth by expanding into new categories and geographic markets.
Sanofi x Qunol
Sanofi acquired Qunol®, a fast-growing U.S. health & wellness brand, to strengthen its Consumer Healthcare presence in the rapidly expanding Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements category. The deal adds Qunol’s leading CoQ10 and Turmeric products, key players in the healthy aging segment, to Sanofi’s U.S. portfolio. This brings in a profitable, science-backed brand with strong consumer loyalty.
With Sanofi’s scale, Qunol is expected to expand into new therapeutic areas and international markets.
Cooper Consumer Health x Viatris Inc
Cooper Consumer Health has completed its acquisition of Viatris Inc.’s OTC business, doubling its revenues to €1.2 billion and firmly positioning itself as a pan-European consumer healthcare leader. The deal expands Cooper’s portfolio into new therapeutic areas, including feminine hygiene, antiseptics, and cholesterol management, while adding strong brands such as Saugella, Betadine, and Armolipid, along with two manufacturing sites and an R&D center in Italy. This acquisition significantly strengthens Cooper’s commercial scale and capabilities across all major European markets.
Conclusion
These collaboration trends show that the global OTC and consumer health market is expanding beyond traditional medicines into personalized nutrition, microbiome science, and digital health-enabled solutions.
At the same time, internal R&D cycles in consumer health often span 5 to 7 years—far slower than the pace of evolving consumer expectations for evidence-backed, personalized products.
In this environment, collaboration is no longer optional. OTC leaders are building hybrid innovation models that blend internal brand strength with external scientific depth, digital intelligence, and speed-to-market.
Whether through partnerships with AI startups, long-term academic alliances, or targeted acquisitions, innovation is increasingly happening beyond company walls.
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