Evocutis secures first contracts for LabSkin living skin equ

UK-based Evocutis has secured sales contracts with leading cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies for its living skin equivalent, LabSkin.

The sales, included in contracts worth £280,000, will see the advanced living skin equivalent model being used to support the research of several well known consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in multiple territories including the US, UK and Europe.

As a first step in product development or claims support, LabSkin offers an alternative to ethically sensitive and expensive animal and human volunteer testing. Comparative studies indicate that LabSkin acts very like human skin: the unique construction of the LabSkin dermal and epidermal layers allows creams and lotions to be applied over time in a similar manner as they would be on real human skin.

Focusing on the future evolution of LabSkin model systems, Evocutis has also entered into research collaborations with leading University groups. At the University of Bradford’s Centre for Skin Sciences, LabSkin is being used to develop a pigmented living skin equivalent that can be used for substantially improved testing of sun protection products. Collaboration with the world-leading research group at Bradford could lead to LabSkin being developed for different skin types and colours.

Recent research with the London School of Pharmacy on dermal penetration has also demonstrated that LabSkin, as a living skin model, offers distinct advantages over laboratory standard non-living tissue.

"We have seen a positive response to LabSkin from the pharmaceutical and cosmetics markets, demonstrating the need for ethical and cost-effective alternatives to tests on living skin in leading laboratories,’ said Gwyn Humphreys, CEO of Evocutis. ‘With continued success we think LabSkin’s innovative technology for modelling real skin could bring significant changes to product development and testing.’

LabSkin is robust enough for skincare products to be repeatedly applied directly to the surface by hand

Originally developed as a device for skin microbiology testing and research, LabSkin is now finding uses in all areas of skincare. Unlike other living skin equivalent models, it is robust enough for skincare products to be repeatedly applied directly to the surface by hand, and with barrier properties similar to human skin, it can be used to more accurately predict the response of skin to test products.

Its ease of use is helped by the large surface area - roughly the size of a 10p coin. Because its window of use extends between 10 and 14 days, researchers can see the effect of skin products over a period of time, as in normal use.