Animalfree allergy tests would pinpoint the winning spot – New Technology

       

The use of animals to test cosmetics is no longer allowed in the EU, and the industry is looking high and low for new testing methods. Lund company Senzagen has developed a test which instead uses human cells to investigate whether a substance is allergenic.

– Our test shows right with 90 percent security, while animal experiments just came up in 75 percent, says CEO Anki Malmborg Hager.

Senzagen is one of the nominees for this year’s edition of new technologies and business world list of the country’s 33 hottest young technology companies. Already on Tuesday, the company has a chance to secure a spot on the list when the regional final is decided in Lund.

The test method is based on research at Lund University. It is based on a type of human cells that play an important role in our immune system.

By measuring the 200 selected genes react to the substance to be tested so you can judge whether the substance can cause allergies.

The company has made a small profit in the last two years and in the order book for this year are already test orders with a value of over five million. In the spring the company moves to new premises and recruits in order to increase capacity.

An important event of the year is the trade association Cosmetics Europe’s high evaluation of test methods that can replace the old animal testing. At the end of the year, the association must select the methods that will be recommended.

– From the beginning there were 16 tests in the evaluation, and Senzagen is one of the four or five who have gone on to the next phase. So far it’s our test that gave the safest answer, says Anki Malmborg Hager.

On the regional finals in Lund compete Senzagen against the D Laboratory, analyzes the slightest disturbance in the electricity grid and warns of blackouts, and InfraSight Labs, which developed software for analyzing and monitoring the company’s IT systems. The combatants are grilled by a jury.

In addition, they can submit a separate so-called “elevator pitch”, a powerful quick presentation as energetic entrepreneurs should To burn off if they end up in the same elevator as a potential investor. After a deliberation crowned the winner goes straight into the year’s 33 list.

The last regional finals held in Gothenburg on Wednesday next week, and you can read about it in next week’s newspaper. Follow both on nyteknik.se.