In Vitro Alternative to Draize TestWhat do Avon, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble and Unilever have in common?
All of these leading Personal Care products companies have used MatTek's EpiOcular™ human cell-based in vitro tissue model to replace some / all of their traditional Draize (rabbit eye) ocular irritation testing.
In fact, Colgate-Palmolive was so impressed with EpiOcular results that they are building on the existing EpiOcular QC data set and championing EpiOcular through the ICCVAM* process for acceptance by U.S. regulators. This Colgate-Palmolive project is at an advanced stage and is the culmination of a 4-plus year effort to rigorously validate EpiOcular with a broad range of test articles in a formal multi-center study. The Colgate study involves data generated by 3M and Kimberly-Clark, and the submission to ICCVAM included very important supplemental data contributions by Avon, S. C. Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
Technical publications by these companies and MatTek document the relevance and reproducibility of EpiOcular as a replacement for the Draize rabbit eye test. One paper in particular, TR #176, documents the development of the EpiOcular Prediction Model.
EpiOcular has also been well received by EU regulators, but it is difficult to project when the EU will be proceeding with ocular studies due to organizational and funding issues. However, since MatTek's EpiDerm™ reconstructed human epidermis (RhE) model has been validated by EU regulators for use in both skin irritation and dermal corrosion testing, MatTek's ability to gain EU acceptance has historically been very strong.
The elimination of needless animal suffering is just one of the many benefits EpiOcular provides to its end-users. Equally important, from a scientific perspective, is the improvement in data quality derived from using a test that has objective, reproducible endpoints. And a model derived from normal human cells will not have its test results compromised by the species extrapolation error inherent in all animal studies. Finally, EpiOcular is able to provide reproducible "sub-Draize" ocular irritation results for ultra-mild products--"mild, milder, and mildest" testing is now possible.
If you want to build your in vitro testing database in a model system that generates high confidence and is produced by a company with a favorable history of regulatory review and acceptance, then MatTek's EpiOcular should warrant your careful consideration.
Link to EpiOcular Publication Summaries
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Link to EpiOcular Data Sheet
Link to EpiOcular Specifications
Link to ALL EpiOcular Technical References
Link to ICCVAM Ocular Toxicity Work Group (OTWG) Web Page
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