SenzaGen AB has announced the start of pilot sales of GARDpotency, the first animal-free method of analysis that can provide invaluable information on the allergenic potency of a chemical substance.
GARDpotency is a unique complement to the previously launched test method GARDskin. For a long time there has been huge demand from government and industry to be able to quantify the strength of chemicals' allergenicity. SenzaGen's new in vitro test method GARDpotency makes this possible for the first time. Quantitative information is a requirement of REACH, the EU chemicals regulation, and is of great help to companies that develop new cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products. Until now all testing for potency classification has been carried out on animals.
As a first step in the launch of GARDpotency, SenzaGen will present the test method for potential customers in connection with the Society of Toxicology's annual conference on 12-16 March 2017 in Baltimore, US. The technology behind GARDpotency has been developed by a research group at Lund University. At the conference, which brings together around 6,500 toxicologists from more than 60 countries, the research team will present two scientific papers describing GARDpotency as well as new application areas for GARDskin. Summaries of the research results will soon be made available and will also be available on the SenzaGen website after the scientific publications are published.
"We see great market potential for GARDpotency. It is already possible to determine if a chemical can cause allergies, but there is a significant additional need among both manufacturers and regulatory bodies to be able to quantify how strong the allergenic effect is. Until now no animal-free testing has been available and we are extremely proud to be the first to offer this to the chemicals industry," said SenzaGen's CEO, Anki Malmborg Hager.
GARDskin is scientifically validated and has been approved for validation in accordance with OECD requirements on allergy tests. The test provides greater than 90 per cent accuracy in the classification of allergenic substances.
