Cantabria Labs vs Dr. Althea

Cantabria Labs

Cantabria Labs is the Madrid pharmaceutical group whose research output anchors three of Spanish dermatology's most-prescribed brand franchises. Founded as Industrial Farmacéutica Cantabria in 1989, the company spent its first decade investing in clinical research that would mature into proprietary technologies: Fernblock (Polypodium leucotomos extract for photoprotection, anchoring [Heliocare](/brands/heliocare)), SCA (Secreted Cryptomphalus Aspersa for regeneration, anchoring [Endocare](/brands/endocare)), and the depigmenting actives RetinSphere + Whitening Booster Complex (anchoring Neoretin). On the Cantabria Labs corporate brand specifically, the franchise to know is Neoretin Discrom Control — a specialist depigmentation line for melasma and chronic hyperpigmentation that's a staple of Spanish dermatology offices but less well-known to international consumers. The Discrom Control SPF50 daytime fluid pairs with the more aggressive Booster Fluid for evening pigmentation correction, with the optional Peel Pads adding gentle exfoliation. The result is one of the most clinically-credible non-prescription depigmenting protocols available outside Spain.