The Nice laboratory SkinEthic can now hear its name called in trading offices throughout the world, having made its Stock Market debut at a minimum price of €6 per share on July 16. The company, founded in 1992 by biologist Martin Rosdy, Ph.D., specializes in the reproduction of human tissue for laboratory testing. The Initial Public Offering is a big success for SkinEthic, which until now has always been self-financed. Profitable by its second year, SkinEthic sales reached €1.63 million by 2003, a figure which the company expects to increase by 14.5% in 2004 and 26.3% in 2005. SkinEthic reconstitutes human tissue models – primarily epidermal and mucosal tissue – using original cell-culture procedures. Cells are grown in a physiologically natural environment, so the tissues obtained behave like human tissues when treated with irritating, pharmacologically active products. With an array of tissue products perfected, the company is now using its patented technology to reconstitute new models, including skin pathologies and 3D liver tissues. SkinEthic enters the free market now to increase its visibility at a strategic time in the testing market. By 2009, the European Union will no longer allow the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. As this decision is predicted to have an influence on pharmaceutical and chemical testing as well, SkinEthic positions itself to provide testing alternatives to animal and human preclinical testing to laboratories worldwide. Labs such as Safepharm, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have already verified the products’ effectiveness and reliability. More information : http://www.skinethic.com
