EU grant for non-animal toxicity test

A UK laboratory that is developing a product to remove animal testing for chemical ingredients for cosmetics has received a £50,000 EU grant.

XCellR8, uses a variety of cell based methods such as artificial models of human skin and eyes reconstructed from donated human cells. The EU funding, provided by Horizon 2020, will allow for the next stage in development and evaluation of their tests.

C-founder and Managing Director of XCellR8, Carol Treasure, said: “Since we founded XCellR8 in 2008, our ethos is to replace animal testing. But, as scientists, we also want to create better science and replace animal-based tests with something more valid to predict the safety and effectiveness of cosmetic and personal care products on people.”

The test will identify the level of harm — acute toxicity — a new cosmetic or personal care product could cause to humans. At the moment it can be used as a preliminary screen to gain basic information about potential toxicity of chemical ingredients. This allows manufacturers to identify and eliminate potentially toxic chemicals before they are using in human trials.

The Horizon 2020 funding will provide support for XCellR8 to move its product towards full approval.  Treasure said: “Our acute toxicity testing method is aimed at meeting both the safety demands of EU REACH regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals 2006) and the ethical demands of the EU Cosmetic Regulation. We are confident it can do this by using human skin cells that will give robust test results for human toxicity which are more accurate and reproducible than any animal test.”

Companies must make sure they meet the REACH deadline of 2018 for acute toxicity testing of ingredients they want to use in their products. Founded in 2008, XCellr8 is an independent contract testing laboratory. In 2014, it was awarded a £180,000 Innovate UK grant to explore the development of a non-animal acute toxicity.