CONTRACT RESEARCH

Labskin has evolved into a company that can do a range of preclinical or bespoke tests that are cost-effective before having to test on our robust skin model. Our expert scientists can help you decide what test is right for your products and produce reliable data. Labskin will help you ensure your product’s safety before it hits the shelves or simply screen a range of formulations to identify those with the most desirable effects.

With increasing pressure to provide the highest level of safely tested products to the market, it is important to find a testing and claims substantiation solution that meets ethical, consumer, regulatory and competitive requirements.

LABSKIN TESTING PLATFORM 

The Labskin test platform is a uniquely accurate, highly reliable solution, yielding results under real-world environments. At its core is a pioneering lab-grown full thickness human skin model that naturally supports the microbiome of human skin due to variety of features such as thick and dry stratum corneum or the presence of anti-microbial peptides.

Labskin comes in two sizes:

  • Labskin1.1: With 1.1 cm2 surface and 12 constructs per plate.
  • Labskin4.5: With 4.5 cm2 and 6 constructs per plate.

Both sizes allow for testing multiple replicates to gain data for statistically significant analysis and testing various different endpoints.

Tests are carried out in state-of-the-art labs by experts on living skin tissue – that can be populated by natural skin microflora or bespoke consortia– with the ability for data being monitored in real-time.

TEST SERVICES


COSMETICS 

Prove your skin care product formulations or cosmetic ingredients claims. 

SKIN IRRITATION 

Conduct tests to assess the irritation potential of your products or formulations. 

ANTI-AGING 

Affirm protective ability against dehydration, environmental factors and pro-collagen production. 

TAMPON TESTING

Asses the effect of sterile hygienic tampons on the growth of normal vaginal microflora species, toxigenic Staphylococcus aureus and estimate the levels of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 (TSST-1).

MICROFLORA PROTECTION  

Show the beneficial effect and impact of product formulation or ingredients on microflora of the skin. 

ANTIMICROBIAL  

Validate products antimicrobial properties against a range of infectious agents s such as Cutibacterium acnes, Trichophyton rubrum, Staphylococcus aureus and many more.

ANTI FUNGAL/DANDRUFF 

Test to determine the immediate and residual treatment for skin fungus and dandruff. 

SKIN BARRIER  

Apply cosmetics and cleaning products tests on skins natural protective layer. 

PRE/PRO BIOTICS  

Cosmetic companies and ingredient suppliers testing efficacy both in and out of formulation. 

IMMUNE RESPONSE  

Cosmetic and cleaning product companies seeking to test products on skins’ natural protective abilities. 

DRUG DELIVERY 

Companies wishing to test topical drug delivery or foreign substance through the natural skin barrier. 

WOUND HEALING 

Wound care companies wishing to test product treatment and dressings of infected incision wounds. 

THE LABSKIN TEST PLATFORM

The microbes that naturally exists on human skin can be colonised on Labskin when testing skin care, cosmetics, health care, drug delivery or wound care products.

The Labskin test platform and protocols help maintain an optimum real-world environment that shows the impact on skin’s natural microflora. 

  • Confirm beneficial effects of skin care products or ingredients.
  • Validate that a product maintains a balance of skin’s Microflora.
  • Confirm moisturising capabilities with an ability to maintain moisture levels over multiple time points.
  • Assess the cytotoxicity and skin irritation of your products.”

WHY IS LABSKIN DIFFERENT? 

Uniquely for a skin equivalent model, Labskin can be colonised with the microflora of skin to provide a platform for the study of microbiological systems or the influence of antimicrobials. Using either commensal skin microflora or known pathogenic strains, we can simultaneously gauge both cellular and microbial responses to your product.

PRECISE MONITORING OF IMPACT ON SKIN MICROFLORA 

Our platform includes automation and analytics that collects data to measure the growth of skin and the impact on the skin’s microflora. Real-time data quickly determines an improvement or damage on the skin microbiome balance by testing products or ingredients for: 

CRUELTY FREE

NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS 

Whether testing cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, wound therapies or household chemicals, the use of lab-grown human skin offers the ability to investigate the effect of chemical corrosiveness on the skin and toxicity of various chemicals without testing on animals.

CLINICAL RESEARCH GRADE PLATFORM

Colonisation with microflora allows products to be tested under real-world environment conditions. 

Labskin closely resembles the behaviour of human skin, acting as a barrier to harmful substances and loss of moisture 

A longer test window of up to 14 days allows for repeat application and observation of the effects on the Labskin. 

Unique platform allows quantification the production of new collagen and other skin barrier function proteins, and observation of a products effect on the skin’s natural ageing process.

RECREATING NATURAL ABILITY

Labskin can be exposed to mild surface abrasion (scrubbing or washing for repeated use) in the laboratory. The skin structure remains intact, demonstrating the skin’s natural ability to withstand everyday activities.

Ability to provide visual endpoints (for example change due to irritation following application of a cosmetic product), which can be used in conjunction with other endpoints (i.e. inflammatory markers (signs of inflammation), permeation, barrier function or pH (acidity)).

DESIGNED TO HOST MICROFLORA 

Labskin has been specifically developed to host microflora. No other skin model currently available can host microflora from human skin. This approach has the potential for microbial studies of cosmetics, which cannot currently be carried out in vivo (animal models) due to ethical constraints of testing harmful bacteria (Holland et al., 2009). 

Labskin and Mass Spectrometry Imaging provides identification of lipids involved in skin barrier repair/wound healing process. 

Rapid pace of development of gene array assay technologies accelerates the unravelling of the skin/microbiome complex.

Colonised models become the gold standard because of Labskin‘s ability to host microflora.