This collaboration marks the first time a tattoo company and a biotechnology & health company have collaborated for the advancement of safety testing and risk assessment of tattoo ink
BOSTON, MA and Las Vegas, NV, June 18, 2019 – Emulate Inc., the leader in Organs-on-Chips technology and human emulation, and INTENZE Products, the leader in the tattoo industry, announced today a first-of-its-kind strategic collaboration designed to advance the tattoo industry, creating safer, better products for customers. Emulate and INTENZE will exclusively collaborate on innovative approaches for predicting human response to tattooing, expanding the functionality of Organs-on-Chips technology for chemical risk assessment applications. This initiative marks the first time that any group has applied Organ-Chips to systemically investigate the biological response associated with tattoo pigments, formulations, or inks.
In evaluating the human-relevant effects of tattoo ink, the collaboration will initially utilize Emulate’s Skin-Chip, which recapitulates much of the complex biology represented in the human skin. In addition, Emulate will apply the company’s other organ models, such as the Liver-Chip and the Kidney-Chip, to assess systemic exposure and possible toxicity risks of tattoo inks and other cosmetics and permanent cosmetic alterations.
In partnering with Emulate, INTENZE will apply Emulate’s Organ-Chips data to further advance its product development towards being science-centric, akin to pharmaceutical or cosmetic product development, ensuring that current and future products will be based on scientific data related to human biology. In addition, Emulate and INTENZE are engaging to address and support potential future regulatory requirements and the creation of relevant guidelines.
“We are delighted to partner with Emulate and combine the expertise of our teams to develop new human-relevant techniques to evaluate safety of tattooing inks using Emulate’s platform,” said INTENZE Products Founder and President Mario Barth. “Through this collaboration, we are committed to again setting new standards in the field of tattoo pigments and inks so that customers and artists have the benefit of safer and better performing tattoo products.”
“INTENZE is an exceptional leader in their industry and they are an ideal collaborator for Emulate, as we work together to apply Organs-on-Chips technology to set new standards,” said Emulate Chief Executive Officer, James Coon. “Our technology opens up new opportunities for products that consumers use every day — including pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics — to be designed and developed for improved safety and improved efficacy.”
About Emulate, Inc.
Emulate, Inc. is a privately held company that creates living products for understanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods affect human health. Our Human Emulation System™ sets a new standard for recreating true-to-life human biology and is being used to advance product innovation, design, and safety across a range of applications including drug development, agriculture, cosmetics, food, and chemical-based consumer products. Emulate continues to develop a wide range of Organ-Chips and disease models through collaborations with industry partners and internal R&D programs. Emulate is also working with clinical partners to produce Organ-Chips personalized with an individual patient’s stem cells, for applications in precision medicine and personalized health. Our founding team pioneered the Organs-on-Chips technology at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Emulate holds the worldwide exclusive license from Harvard University to a robust and broad intellectual property portfolio for the Organs-on-Chips technology and related systems.
About INTENZE Products
INTENZE Products is the world’s leading tattoo pigment manufacturer. Founder Mario Barth was the first to introduce a 19 Tattoo Ink Color Set to the market; the first to introduce an Artist Tattoo Ink set; the first to establish an official worldwide certified supplier network for tattoo ink; and the first to establish an official tattoo artist sponsorship program (with currently over 50 of the world’s greatest artists being sponsored by INTENZE). He is also the creator and manufacturer of the first-ever sterile single use product, the INTENZE One Cap Tattoo Inks, which revolutionizes how tattoo artists conduct their business travels and vastly improves the safety and sterility of tattooing. INTENZE is the first tattoo ink manufacturer to publicly disclose the ingredients in each one of the tattoo inks it produces. This information allows customers and artists to know exactly what INTENZE inks are made with. INTENZE ink is also 100% vegan, containing zero animal products, and absolutely never tests on animals.
Media Contacts
Emulate:
Kathryn Morris
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com
Tel: 914-204-6412
INTENZE Products:
Lindsey von Busch
lindsey.vonbusch@gmail.com
Tel: 732-284-9089
Header Image: Hematoxylin and Eosin staining of the full-thickness human skin produced in our Skin-Chip, demonstrating characteristic architecture of human skin. Credit: Emulate, Inc.
