Via its investment arm, Evonik Venture Capital, Evonik has invested in Singapore start-up Revivo BioSystems.
Revivo is seeking to develop and commercialise a technology that uses a realistic 4D model of human skin to test cosmetic and other compounds in a “quicker, more reliable and cost-efficient” way, and also avoids animal testing. Its organ-on-a-chip system is said to simulate the interaction of human skin with the substance being tested.
Skin tissues grown in a laboratory or human skin samples are placed on biochips supplied with nutrients and reagents, to create a micro-environment that reproduces the architecture and functions of skin. For example, in contrast to other model systems, the system mimics the function of blood flow, allowing for the analysis of both the localised and the systemic impact of compounds on the skin tissue. Thus it creates a more realistic measurement of the interaction of products and the skin.
This is Evonik’s first direct investment in Singapore, although it is already involved in researching animal-free biomaterials and cell-culture components at its competence centre in Singapore. Another investor in Revivo, which is a spin-off of the public sector R&D agency A*Star, is co-investor, is SGInnovate, a “deep tech ecosystem builder and investor”backed by the Singaporean government.
