Patented technology developed in partnership between BioBeads and Coppe is elected the best of the year in Brazil

Research conducted in partnership with a laboratory at Coppe/UFRJ—which was transformed into a patented technology and brought to market by BioBeads®, a technology-based startup incubated at the institution—won the 2026 Patent of the Year Award on July 27, presented by the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association (ABPI).

The innovative technology patented by UFRJ and BioBeads® promises to increase sun protection several times using the same chemical compounds found in conventional sunscreens, but with a formulation that is safer for users and the environment.

The award-winning technology involves the use of micro and nano biodegradable polymeric particles capable of enhancing sun protection. The particles may or may not contain encapsulated photoprotective active ingredients and help reduce exposure to harsh chemicals while preventing the release of microplastic waste into the environment.

According to Amon Costa, founding partner and head of marketing at BioBeads®, the company’s goal is to transform science into high-performance products with a lower environmental impact.

“Our mission is to create high-performance products that replace harmful fossil-based ingredients with biodegradable and biocompatible alternatives. While we mitigate the systemic absorption of chemical compounds that are harmful to the user’s health, we increase the stability of the photoprotective compounds, thereby enhancing their performance. As a result, we achieve full optimization of the chemical formula, putting the saying ‘less is more’ into practice.”

The trajectory of BioBeads® illustrates a path that Coppe seeks to encourage: research that begins in laboratories, generates knowledge, becomes intellectual property, and is transformed into technologies with the potential for application by society and industry.

The result of approximately two years of research, the technology was developed in collaboration with the Polymerization Engineering Laboratory (Engepol) of the Chemical Engineering Program (PEQ), under the coordination of Professor José Carlos Pinto. The knowledge generated during this period of collaboration was patented by BioBeads®, a startup based at Coppe’s Business Incubator, which is responsible for developing the solution and bringing it to market.

The technology’s development also highlights the career opportunities available to researchers. Part of the innovation stemmed from the master’s and doctoral research conducted by engineers Martina Pinto and Luciana Dutra at PEQ and in the Graduate Program in Chemical and Biochemical Process Engineering (EPQB) at the School of Chemistry. Today, both work as postdoctoral researchers and are also partners at BioBeads®, alongside Rafael Lima, a Ph.D. student at EPQB. The technical team also includes PEQ postdoctoral researcher Letícia Miranda, who is also an EPQB alumna. The four of them, along with Professor José Carlos Pinto, are the authors of the award-winning patent.

In addition to the winning patent—titled “Micro and Nano Biodegradable Polymeric Particles and Their Use”—BioBeads® already holds another granted patent and has six other technologies in the process of obtaining intellectual property protection, demonstrating the potential of the research conducted in partnership with Coppe to generate a continuous portfolio of innovation.

The award confirms that investments in research can lead to concrete solutions to societal challenges, strengthen the national innovation ecosystem, and create new opportunities for researchers to become entrepreneurs without abandoning the science that gave rise to their discoveries.