L’ORÉAL and Hurel Corporation Announce R&D Collaboration to Develop a Non-Animal Alternative, Microfluid Biochip
Paris, France and North Brunswick, NJ — L’ORÉAL and Hurel Corporation (“Hurel”)
today jointly announced that they have achieved the initial milestone of a research and development
collaboration to create a new and disruptive in vitro test for potential allergic reactions to substances that
could come into contact with the skin. The new device, named “Allergy Test on a Chip™,” is intended to
comprise a technological substitute for the animal test known as the local lymph node assay (“LLNA”).
LLNA is presently accepted by regulatory agencies worldwide as a standard means for evaluating
potential allergenic responses to new ingredients of consumer and industrial products.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with Hurel in the development of Allergy Test on a Chip, which is
totally in line with our 25-year commitment in non-animal toxicology,” said Jacques Leclaire, Ph.D.,
Director of Life Sciences Research at L’ORÉAL. “Hurel’s microdevice represents cutting-edge research
and development, directed towards creating a breakthrough technology complementing our efforts in
building alternative, integrated testing strategies. While the ultimate success of this advanced and
complex research project is not a certainty, the critical goal it addresses makes it a most worthwhile
endeavor for us as a company.”
R&D activities of the collaboration are being performed by Hurel in the United States, with contributions
by L’ORÉAL’s scientific team. Allergy Test on a Chip, a patented embodiment of Hurel’s multi-tissue,
microfluidic cell culture technology, will integrate a reconstructed human skin; a separate cell culture
capable of simulating a human immune system response (i.e., an allergic reaction); and means of
microfluidically-mediated signaling between the skin construct where the allergenic stimulus originates
and the immune system construct where the response to that stimulus occurs.
In its recently completed first year, the collaboration achieved its initial milestone of demonstrating the
microfluidic signaling component of the device. In vivo, in response to an allergen contacting the skin,
certain cells migrate out of the skin and into a nearby lymph node, where they signal the immune system
to launch an allergic reaction. Achieving the initial milestone entailed simulating this process of migration
in a prototype microfluidic device.
“We are gratified to have achieved the initial milestone of our collaboration, and thrilled to play a key role
as L’ORÉAL spearheads new, non-animal testing methods in the cosmetics industry,” commented Robert
Freedman, Chief Executive Officer of Hurel Corporation. “Allergy Test on a Chip, if globally adopted, may
dramatically reduce the use of animal tests in safety evaluation; and in part for this reason it has
considerable commercial potential as well. L’ORÉAL deserves tremendous credit for making the
investments that will help create the toxicology of the twenty-first century. Hurel takes the greatest pride
in collaborating with a company of L’ORÉAL’s global stature.”
About L’ORÉAL
L’ORÉAL is the world leader in the cosmetics industry, developing innovative products to meet the
diverse needs of customers in 130 countries worldwide. Nearly 3,000 people work in the Group’s 18
research centers, located in France, Asia and America. Their findings are responsible for the registration
of hundreds of patents annually.
About Hurel Corporation
Hurel Corporation is the world leader in developing microfluidic, multi-tissue cell cultures and assay
platforms which provide in vitro alternatives to animal testing while offering improved human-relevance of
toxicological and metabolic prediction to scientists in the pharmaceutical, biotech, cosmetics, consumer
products and industrial products industries. More information is available at https://www.hurelcorp.com/

