China's Online PDRN Skincare Sales Rose Almost Fivefold

Online sales of skincare named after PDRN across three of China's largest marketplaces reached about CN¥ 2.2 billion in the year to September 2026, almost five times the CN¥ 449 million of a year earlier, according to Moojing Market Intelligence. Skincare as a whole was about flat over the same months.

This article covers the second chapter of the full report, China's Online Sales of PDRN Skincare 2023–2026. PDRN is a mix of DNA fragments that began as an ingredient in an Italian drug, and this chapter measures how quickly listings that carry its name have grown.

Key figures

• CN¥ 2.2 billion: online sales of skincare titled PDRN, October 2025 to September 2026
• ×4.9: the sales multiple in a year, while skincare as a whole was about flat
• 14.1 million: units sold in the year, up from 1.7 million
• 0.67%: PDRN's share of skincare sales on the three marketplaces

Method and scope: online sales across three of China's largest marketplaces, modelled from observed listings and prices, October 2023 to September 2026, from Moojing Market Intelligence; not the total market, because physical stores, clinics and several other marketplaces are not included. A PDRN listing is a skincare product whose title contains "PDRN", gift sets included, so the series measures products sold on the ingredient's name. A year means twelve months to the end of September.

How fast are PDRN skincare sales growing in China?#

Sales of PDRN listings rose about twelvefold in the year to September 2025, from CN¥ 37 million to CN¥ 449 million, and almost fivefold in the year to September 2026, to CN¥ 2.2 billion. They grew on all three marketplaces in both years, although one marketplace carried about four-fifths of the latest year's sales and of its growth, so the combined figures mostly describe that marketplace.

Exhibit 2. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed marketplace data across three of China's largest marketplaces, skincare listings whose titles contain "PDRN", and all skincare in the same categories, in three twelve-month periods to September. Not the total market.

Why did PDRN sales grow so quickly?#

Most of the growth came from selling many more, cheaper products. Units sold rose about eightfold in the latest year, from 1.7 million to 14.1 million, which is faster than sales because the average price per unit fell 40%. Monthly sales were below CN¥ 10 million for most of 2024, rose to CN¥ 62 million in March 2025 and reached CN¥ 325 million in August 2026, while from March 2025 to September 2026 the average price per unit sold fell from CN¥ 267 to CN¥ 122.

Exhibit 1. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed marketplace data across three of China's largest marketplaces, sales by month of skincare listings whose titles contain "PDRN", October 2023 to September 2026. The price line starts in March 2025, the first month in which sales passed CN¥ 30 million. Average price per unit is sales divided by units sold, so it also moves with the mix of products. Not the total market.

We look at where those prices went, and which products took the sales, in the average price of PDRN skincare.

How big is PDRN within Chinese skincare?#

PDRN is still a small part of skincare, at about 0.67% of its sales on the three marketplaces in the latest year, up from 0.14% a year earlier and 0.01% two years earlier. We believe its importance for brands lies in the speed of the move. Skincare as a whole was about flat in the latest year: one marketplace changed its category tree, and on the months both trees cover, skincare's change ranges from a small rise to a small fall.

Our measure is broad, because it counts every skincare listing that names PDRN in its title, gift sets included. Products that contain PDRN without naming it in their titles are not counted, and a narrower definition gives a smaller total. Most best sellers do not say where their PDRN comes from, as we show in our article on salmon and clinic words, so these figures describe skincare named after PDRN and say nothing about what any product contains.

What the growth means for brands is covered in four moves for brands, the wider category on our China beauty market page, and the monthly series and method in the full report.