Support from China-owned companies signals ‘positive impact’ for non-animal testing methods – IIVS president

On June 22, the US-based non-profit organisation announced that it has received its first ever funding from a Chinese-owned and operated beauty tech company, Shenzhen Basixing Technology Co Ltd.

IIVS declined to disclose the funding amount it received from the cosmetics firm.

The funding will go towards the non-profit’s International Outreach Program in China where it works collaboratively with the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC) to transfer non-animal technologies to support the registration and supervision of cosmetics.

The organisation believes this signals a rising interest for non-animal test methods in China and the importance of the IIVS program to help implement them.

“To date, our outreach program has been funded primarily by multi-national companies. We are delighted that Shenzhen Basixing and Kitty Annie have chosen to demonstrate their commitment to non-animal testing with a contribution to our program,” ​said Erin Hill, president of IIVS.

Dr Zhi Pan, chief scientist at Shenzhen Basixing, added: “IIVS’ promotion of non-animal tests has brought real change to China and companies like ours will be able to avoid animal testing in the future. This supports the core values of our company. We are very proud to be the first Chinese company to support the mission of IIVS.”​

Shenzhen Basixing Technology specialises on beauty technology and owns the beauty device brand Kitty Annie, which aims to meet the needs of generation Z consumers.

“We are a group of young people who have strong beliefs in science, technology and art. Through the combination of active cosmetics and devices, our goal is to provide a unique beauty experience with perceivable benefits for our consumers while promoting transparency and sustainability,”​ said Pan.

Hill told CosmeticsDesign-Asia ​that she hopes to see more domestic companies in furthering the interest in non-animal testing.

“Support from Chinese companies indicate their growing interest in these methods and also the positive impact our program is having in their country. Acceptance and availability of non-animal methods not only assists companies wishing to access the Chinese market. It also will help Chinese companies access foreign markets where animal testing has been banned.”​

Updates on animal testing in China

IIVS has been working with China’s top regulatory agency responsible for cosmetics supervision to transfer non-animal test methods through outreach and training programs.

These training programs have helped to establish the national Key Laboratory for Animal Alternative Testing for Cosmetics at the Zhejiang Institute for food and drug control.

Regulatory acceptance of these methods will allow companies to register cosmetics without animal testing in the future.

This access means that Chinese companies will be able to export products to markets that prohibit animal testing of cosmetics such as those in the European Union (EU).

On June 26, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published the final version of its Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR) which will take effect on January 1, 2021.

The new legislation includes measures to reduce some of the requirements of animal testing for beauty and personal care products that fall under the general cosmetics classification.

As of today, the NIFDC three non-animal testing methods and have several more under review.

Hill said IIVS will continue to support China’s efforts to introduce non-animal testing methods.

“We look forward to other supporting regulations which may indicate how non-animal methods may be used for the registration of cosmetics in China,”​ said Hill

“We will continue our program working with regulatory and industry scientists to learn about non-animal test methods. We will also engage with other stakeholders and groups, such as the Chinese Society of Toxicology, to support their programs around non-animal test methods.”​