According to the US-based company the test can determine ocular, dermal and airway irritation, dermal sensitization and photosensitization all within a six week period.
“It’s the first panel to be introduced that covers basic safety test requirements as well as putting all the information together so that the customer can submit a safety dossier as needed,” CEO Jim McKim told CosmeticsDesign.com USA.
Dedicated to the development of alternative methods for the industry, CeeTox says the safety evaluation of cosmetics is a crucial part of product development and historically, whereby until now standard tests for repeat dose systemic toxicity have been in vivo tests using animals as test systems.
On questioning the demand for the panel, McKim told us; “It’s the wave of the future, in the US, the industry is focused now on improving our safety testing strategies, by using human based cell models and understanding the mechanisms of toxicity.”
Other developments
In the last year the company has also undergone developments in the area of systemic toxicity with its ‘Repeat Dose Systemic Toxicity’ test.
While there are major initiatives underway to develop new models in this area, none are expected to be scientifically validated before 2013, however, CeeTox has been successful in developing and scientifically validating the test against both animal and human in vivo data.
According to the company, the test uses a systems biology approach that focuses on multiple biochemical endpoints, over a wide range of exposure concentrations. By building a temporal component into the analysis, it is possible to identify the most sensitive subcellular target of toxicity.
Ongoing efforts are focused on evaluating the assay’s performance over a broader chemical space and its ability to predict toxicity in the rodent 28 day or 90 day studies.