The Spanish laboratory Bionos Biotech, focused in efficacy testing for cosmetic and food-nutraceutical companies, remains open despite the current situation, beingconsidered as an essential activity due to its validation tasks for cosmetic and food industries, together with the projects regarding COVID-19 in which the company is involved.
In this sense, in order to fight against SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the company has developed new bioassays to demonstrate and validate the efficacy and functionality (Claims) of cosmetic products, in terms of antimicrobial and sanitizing capabilities.
First, the company launched the Disk Diffusion Test (Antibiogram) to assess the antibacterial effects on different bacterial strains (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus), after treatment with a specific product.
The inhibition halo’s area created by the compound is measured using ImageJ and compared to a positive control (e.g. ethanol 70%). This assay is designed to test both active ingredients and cosmetic end-products.
In parallel, Bionos developed the Hand-Washing Test, specifically designed for cosmetic end-products. Through this assay, we can determine whether the use of a sanitiser or cleaning product displays real antibacterial effects, after getting volunteers’ hands dirty, comparing the bacterial growth before and after hand washing.
On the other hand, beyond the cosmetic testing activity, the company is setting up the tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the population.
The PCR test, to identify asymptomatic infected patients, and the antibodies test, to identify asymptomatic immune people who had already overcome the disease, will be ready in the following days.
With this activity, the company tries to help to health system in the detection process, increasing the capacity of testing and speeding up the come back to normal.
