Validated non-animal testing method used to support AI system, saving more than 19,000 rabbits

Osmo, the first company to digitize scent, today announced the publication of a landmark study in Alternatives to Laboratory Animals that showcases how artificial intelligence can transform safety testing for thousands of chemicals without the use of animals. In collaboration with the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), Osmo evaluated the skin irritation potential of over 3,000 chemicals using validated non-animal testing methods, generating critical safety data that would have required up to 19,134 rabbits using traditional approaches.

The study represents the first time an AI tool for predicting skin irritation has been trained on data generated from validated human-relevant laboratory methods rather than animal testing data.

“This is a significant breakthrough for a number of industries that traditionally use animal testing,” said Alex Wiltschko, founder and CEO of Osmo. “With the support of AI, we've shown that it's not only possible to eliminate animal testing for skin safety assessment, but that we can do it faster, more accurately, and with better relevance to human health. We look forward to using this method for all future skin-safety assessments, ensuring the products we develop prioritize protecting animals and human health.”

The Skin Irritation Test was based on reconstructed human epidermis models. This validated method was used during a Gates Foundation funded project to discover compounds that repel, attract, or destroy disease-carrying insects. The method calibrated Osmo's proprietary Olfactory Intelligence’s (an AI platform specialized on scent) capacity to predict skin irritation.

“This project showed what's possible when advanced lab methods and AI come together,” said Huang (Grace) Huang, Ph.D., Toxicologist II and Study Director at IIVS. “By adapting a non-animal skin irritation test to handle more than 3,000 chemicals in just ten months, researchers created a powerful dataset that trained a new AI model to predict irritation across a wide selection of chemicals. This work marks a major step towards faster, more efficient, and more ethical safety testing, reducing reliance on animal studies while strengthening modern chemical risk assessment with a human-relevant dataset.”

The AI tool developed through this project is designed to predict skin irritation for large libraries of molecules, which has significant implications for accelerating the discovery of safer chemicals across multiple industries. This represents a significant milestone in the movement toward modern, human-relevant safety testing methods.

The publication is now available in Alternatives to Laboratory Animals.

About Osmo

Launched in January 2023 with $60 million Series A funding led by Lux Capital and Google Ventures, Osmo is the first company to digitize scent, ushering in a new era of olfaction. Combining expertise in AI, chemistry, engineering and neuroscience, and leveraging its proprietary Olfactory Intelligence technology, Osmo is beginning work in the fragrance industry, creating affordable and accessible bespoke fragrances for brands and creators with precision and speed. Beyond fragrance, Osmo is applying its technology to some of the largest commercial sectors, public health and security. Learn more at osmo.ai.

About Institute for In-Vitro Sciences (IIVS)

IIVS is a non-profit organization wholly dedicated to the promotion of non-animal test methods. Founded in 1997, IIVS is recognized as a leading provider of in vitro testing in support of toxicological safety evaluations. Rigorous scientific programs coupled with educational and outreach initiatives have established IIVS as a global leader in the advancement of alternatives to animal testing. For more information, visit us at www.iivs.org.

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