PDRN stands for polydeoxyribonucleotide, but that name alone does not tell a formulator what arrives in the ingredient container. Commercial grades can differ in composition, concentration, and processing instructions; research preparations can differ from those materials too.12

Before choosing an addition rate for a serum, establish what the supplier would deliver and which evidence applies to that grade.

A percentage of what?

Consider two fictional ingredients: grade A contains 1% of the component of interest, and grade B contains 10%. Adding each at 1% by weight gives:

  • Grade A: 1 × 1 ÷ 100 = 0.01% in the prototype.
  • Grade B: 1 × 10 ÷ 100 = 0.1% in the prototype.

The same addition rate produces a tenfold difference. The carriers might differ as well, so matching the component concentration would still not establish equivalent safety or performance.

Request the manufacturer’s product code, declared INCI composition, current specification, component concentration and measurement basis. If molecular size is part of the supplier’s explanation, ask for the profile and method behind it.

Uniproma, for example, lists a powder grade declared as Sodium DNA.1 Check the declaration and specification of each grade you are considering.

What was tested in the cited research?

A 2025 paper by Park and colleagues investigated plasma-treated PDRN using physicochemical characterisation and laboratory experiments.2 Any use of those findings needs to account for the material processing and test systems in that paper.

Read a proposed supporting study for its material, dose, delivery route, comparator, duration, and outcome. Findings from injection, cell culture, or damaged tissue need a justified connection before they can support a claim about application to intact skin. If a serum contains several potentially relevant ingredients, check whether the study can distinguish PDRN’s contribution.

Discuss proposed wording early. FDA treats intended use as central to the distinction between cosmetics and drugs, and identifies cell-regeneration claims as an example of drug intent.3

Get the documents needed for a trial

Alongside identity and composition, request the lot’s certificate of analysis, relevant purity and contaminant specifications, safety information, and storage and processing guidance. Ask which studies used the purchased grade and how specification changes will be communicated.

EU Annex I guidance addresses ingredient identification, composition, and pertinent purity information.4 Ask the safety assessor which supporting information is needed for the proposed formula.

Use the chosen grade’s instructions when planning the process. Record the material lot and amount in a named trial formula. If comparing grades, decide whether the experiment is intended to compare equivalent component levels or each supplier’s proposed application. Keep other changes visible so a difference in the base formula is not attributed to PDRN.

Keep the supplier documents and concentration calculation with the trial results. Identify the selected grade and record which proposed claims still need evidence.

Sources

  1. Uniproma. PromaCare PDRN (Salmon) / Sodium DNA product information. ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Park et al., Pharmaceutics, 2025; PubMed record. Plasma-Engineered PDRN: Surface Charge Neutralization and Nanosizing Enhance Uptake and Regeneration Potential. Primary research abstract and figure captions. ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. US Food and Drug Administration. Is It a Cosmetic, a Drug, or Both? (Or Is It Soap?). ↩︎

  4. European Commission / EUR-Lex. Commission Implementing Decision 2013/674/EU: Guidelines on Annex I to the Cosmetics Regulation. ↩︎