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A ‘TEST MARKET’

Organovo has landed a research partnership with beauty conglomerate L’Oreal to create 3-D bioprinted human skin to test cosmetics.

Testing beauty products on animals has been a controversial topic for decades, with images of blind rabbits and blistered guinea pigs driving public demand for cruelty-free beauty products.

L’Oreal stopped animal testing in 1989, and has been researching alternative methods to test products ever since.

“We developed a technology incubator to uncover disruptive innovations across industries that have the potential to transform the beauty business,” said Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oreal’s Technology Incubator. “Organovo has broken new ground with 3-D bioprinting.”

Organovo CEO Keith Murphy said his company can build many kinds of tissue by using human cells as the “ink” in a 3-D printer.

“One of them of course is skin,” Murphy said. “Naturally, a beauty company like L’Oreal has an interest in using three-dimensional skin to test potential cosmetic agents for their products.”

The Partnership

Although beauty companies have been moving away from animal testing, current skin substitutes — such as cells in a petri dish or virtual skin models — have limitations.

The new product-testing medium proposed by Organovo would consist of real human cells assembled by machine into a three-dimensional tissue. Murphy said by layering various types of skin tissue, Organovo can better mimic the complexity of actual human skin. Then, L’Oreal could test anti-wrinkle cream or tanning lotion on the tissue to see if it actually gets smoother or changes hue.

The research partnership between the two companies includes three phases: development, validation and commercial supply, Murphy said. Their first goal is to develop artificially grown skin tissue that shares histological and biochemical characteristics with healthy native skin.

L’Oreal will fund the first two phases of research. If the skin tissue being developed is used for skincare products, the beauty company will have exclusive rights to the tissue. On the other hand, if the skin tissue is used for other medical purposes, such as prescription drug testing, then Organovo retains rights to the skin tissue.

“There are many opportunities in dermatologic projects,” Murphy said. “Pharmaceutical companies could use skin tissue to test for drugs with transdermal delivery (patches), for example. Eventually, it could even be an option for burn victims, or people with diabetic ulcers.”

Other Plans

Although this partnership is Organovo’s first foray into cosmetics, the company does have experience creating complex human tissue to test pharmaceuticals.

Just last year, the company launched the world’s first commercial line of 3-D printed human tissue called the exVive3D. The liver tissue was debuted first, and Organovo’s kidney tissue is on track for pharmaceutical use in 2016, Murphy said.

These complex tissues are meant to enable more accurate testing, replacing lab rats and petri dishes with more specific tissue types.

Organovo recently signed a deal with Merck & Co. that will give the pharma giant access to Organovo’s human liver tissue. The agreement will also involve a collaboration to develop multiple custom tissue models using Organovo’s proprietary NovoGen Bioprinting Platform for use in drug development.

Key financial terms of the agreement have not been released.

The Future

Applications for bioprinted tissue extend beyond product testing, Murphy said. He estimated that within four to six years the company will be able to 3-D print human organ patches to repair damaged organs.

The company spends about 10 percent of its research and development budget on organ patch bioprinting, Murphy said, and has just teamed up with researchers at Yale School of Medicine to develop 3-D tissues for transplant research.

“This field may provide a unique and new opportunity where we can print 3-D organs that can supplement or replace the shortage of organs out there worldwide,” said Dr. John Geibel, vice chair and director of surgical research at Yale School of Medicine.

While the printing and use of 3-D tissues and organs in actual transplants has not yet occurred on any real scale, the field is advancing rapidly. At least in the short term, 3-D organ printing could be used to support a failing organ while the patient awaits a full transplant, Geibel said.

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