Evocutis and Bradford University Collaborate on pigmented La

UK-based Evocutis and the University of Bradford’s Centre for Skin Sciences are to collaborate on research that could improve the treatment of pigment-related skin conditions and the development of sun protection products.

The co-funded project will investigate adding melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin and give skin and hair its colour, to Evocutis’ LabSkin living skin equivalent model.

The project could see Wetherby, West Yorkshire-based Evocutis bring to market LabSkin models for different skin types and colours, allowing them to be used more widely in laboratories for research and development of medical and personal care products.

Bradford’s skin experts are interested in how LabSkin, a living skin equivalent, could be developed and used for research to tackle conditions such as Vitiligo (loss of pigment), Melasma (increased skin pigmentation) and common ‘age spots’.

A commercial use of pigmented LabSkin would be to test and support the marketing claims of sun protection products.

Professor Des Tobin, Director of the Centre for Skin Sciences at The University of Bradford, said: "We’re hopeful that this research will help us find improved ways of investigating common pigment-related skin conditions which is an area of particular interest to us, as well as helping Evocutis to develop its LabSkin model to more fully approximate human skin.’