SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (AIM:SBTX) shares rose on Thursday after the firm said there are no safety or compliance concerns with people taking part in a test of the company’s skin cream.
Half the 120 volunteers have been through the trial process with the study set to complete as expected during this quarter.
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Data yielded will be assessed to determine the effectiveness of the group’s SkinBiotix technology and whether it retains the same beneficial property of improving skin health when in a cream formulation.
The study is double-blinded, which means neither the volunteers nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This prevents any bias.
Results, therefore, will only be known when everyone has been treated and the human trial is "unblinded".
Commercial discussions
This latest battery of tests are important and will if the information yielded is positive, form the central plank for negotiations with commercial partners.
"Being able to determine the potential for our SkinBiotix technology as a clinically effective solution to improve skin health allows us to actively progress discussions with partners interested in commercialising the technology as a cosmetic,” said chief executive, Dr Cath O’Neill.
The final human study is a significant milestone in what has been a period of achievement for SkinBioTherapeutics, which included the manufacturing scale-up and freeze drying of the product and successful safety and irritancy studies.
SkinBio emerged from the work of O’Neill and her team on the human microbiome, which exists on the skin as well as within the gut.
It’s known that subtle changes to the micro-organisms on human tissue can have a positive, protective and possibly restorative impact.
In late morning trading, SkinBio shares were 1.4% higher at 18.75p.
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