L’Oréal to provide access to its proprietary 3D reconstructed skin models, offering an innovative tool for non-animal safety and efficacy testing methods
L’Oréal today announced a partnership with the University of California (UC) Berkeley’s Bakar Labs, a leading biotech incubator. This collaboration opens up avenues for Bakar Labs’ incubated startups, to benefit from and gain access to L’Oréal’s 3D reconstructed skin models, for free.
This partnership focuses on pioneering the next-generation of beauty products, leveraging L’Oréal’s extensive microbiome science, Bakar Labs’ biotech expertise, and other advanced biological technologies. This forward-looking collaboration aims to redefine the beauty industry landscape, driving innovations that cater to individual needs, improve skin health, and address specific skin concerns with ever-more effective and innovative solutions.
“L’Oréal has been a pioneer of 3D reconstructed skin for over 25 years, establishing alternative solutions for a world without animal testing. Today, we are pleased to power Bakar Labs at UC Berkeley with this L’Oréal proprietary skintech platform to support Bakar’s best-in-class startup ecosystem in their quest for new discoveries. With a fully integrated production of 3D reconstructed skin, we will provide Bakar startups with whatever is needed to achieve their goals,” saidBarbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology at L’Oréal.
Bakar Labs, housed in the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub on the UC Berkeley campus, offers over 40,000 square feet of lab and office space to up to 50 startups at a time. Its diverse community of startups includes companies working in therapeutics, diagnostics, agricultural tech, and food tech.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with L’Oréal and benefiting from their extensive experience in microbiome research and advanced biological technologies,” said UC Berkeley professor David Schaffer, Director of Bakar Labs. “This collaboration will provide valuable resources and expertise to our tenant companies and allow us to work alongside L’Oréal to advance the biotechnology field across the pharmaceutical and beauty industries.”
