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/

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