PDRN Skincare: INCI Names, Sources and Rules for Sellers

PDRN skincare uses DNA fragments (polydeoxyribonucleotide) as an ingredient, but the ingredient list usually shows a standard name such as Sodium DNA rather than “PDRN”. PDRN injections used in clinics are a separate, drug-approved product; a PDRN cream or serum is simply a cosmetic and is regulated as one.

Korean regulators have caught a fast-growing number of PDRN cosmetics ads that look like drug claims, so importers and resellers should check both the INCI name and the wording. This guide covers sources and classification only, not benefits.

Step 1: Understand what PDRN in skincare is

PDRN stands for polydeoxyribonucleotide. A 2017 review in Frontiers in Pharmacology, Pharmacological Activity and Clinical Use of PDRN¹, describes it as a mixture of deoxyribonucleotide chains prepared from the sperm DNA of salmonid fish (salmon trout or chum salmon), with molecular weights between 50 and 1,500 kDa, and treats pharmaceutical PDRN as a registered drug.

So “PDRN” began as a pharmaceutical name. In cosmetics, the term is widely used as marketing shorthand for DNA-derived ingredients.

Step 2: Find it on the INCI list

Cosmetic ingredient lists use standard names. The main DNA-type entries are:

Swipe sideways to see the whole table.

“Skin conditioning” describes the ingredient’s role in a formula, not a proven benefit.

Step 3: Don’t assume the source from the INCI name

The Korea Cosmetic Association’s entry for Sodium DNA links several suppliers’ trade names. Among those carrying “PDRN” in the name are materials described as derived from plant cells or rose cells, and one sold as “Vegan PDRN”. In other words, “Sodium DNA” on a label does not tell you whether the material came from salmon or from plants.

That matters in B2B:

• If you sell into vegan, halal or other source-sensitive channels, confirm the origin with the raw-material specification or a supplier declaration.
• If your listing says “salmon-derived”, you need evidence. Korea’s Cosmetics Act, Article 14, requires factual claims to be substantiated.

Step 4: Keep injections and cosmetics apart

In Korea, PDRN injections are drugs. Medical Times reported that PDRN is a non-reimbursed drug whose approved use is limited to wound treatment and tissue regeneration after skin grafts. Some other DNA-type injectables are approved as medical devices: Daily Pharm described an intra-articular injection based on sodium polynucleotide (PN) as a medical device.

A cosmetic, by contrast, is defined in Article 2 of the Cosmetics Act as a product with a mild effect on the body, and medicines are excluded. A topical product and an injection may share the word “PDRN”, but they sit in different approval systems with different permitted claims. Cosmetic ads that evoke injections or clinic procedures risk being treated as drug-like advertising.

Step 5: Know the enforcement picture

Citing data submitted to the National Assembly, SBS Biz reported in July 2026 that violations found in PDRN cosmetics ads rose from 7 in 2023 to 19 in 2024 and 39 in 2025, with 41 in the first half of 2026 alone.

Of 106 cases over four years, 81 (76.4%) were ads likely to be mistaken for medicines. The report added that while the Ministry’s guideline bans drug-like wording, there is no separate labelling or advertising standard for ingredient names such as PDRN.

Article 13 of the Cosmetics Act prohibits labels or ads that could be mistaken for a medicine. For resellers, the risk lies less in the ingredient name than in the words next to it, especially anything suggesting procedures, regeneration or treatment.

Step 6: What buyers should check

• INCI name: if “PDRN” appears only in the product name or marketing, find out which INCI entry it corresponds to.
• Source documentation: salmon, plant or microbial origin, from the supplier’s specification.
• Local rules: whether your market needs extra documents or labelling for animal-derived ingredients.
• Local copy: do not translate Korean promotional text directly; remove drug or procedure language.

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