This Spring, Ten Bio participated in three major international conferences: the inaugural Skin Summit in Antibes, France, the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) Annual Meeting in the United States in San Diego, and the 8th International Conference on Microneedles in Brisbane, Australia. Each event offered unique insights into the rapidly evolving landscape of dermatology research and drug delivery innovations.
As the demand grows for more predictive, human-relevant research platforms, these conferences provided valuable opportunities to engage with emerging trends, scientific challenges, and collaborative prospects. For Ten Bio, they also represented a chance to connect with researchers and industry leaders who share our mission to reduce reliance on animal models by offering a more human-relevant, accurate alternative: human skin that is physiologically active and representative of skin on the body.
Exploring innovation at the Skin Summit, Antibes, France
Held on April 24–25, 2025, at the Antibes Congress Centre in Juan-les-Pins, the first edition of the Skin Summit focused on “Next Generation Solutions for Pigmentary Disorders.” The conference brought together international experts in research into skin health, concentrating on vitiligo, pigmentation disorders, and photoprotection.
A highlight of the meeting was a session on photoprotection, featuring presentations and a roundtable on emerging strategies. We learned that diesel particulates can trigger melanin production via oxidative stress, which may be mitigated with ferulic acid-based antioxidants. In contrast, Professor Thierry Passeron showed that visible light-induced pigmentation follows different pathways and remains unaffected by such antioxidants, with tinted sunscreens currently the only effective option.
This event provided a platform to hear how the research community is tackling challenges in areas such as barrier function, inflammation, and model development — all of which are closely aligned with Ten Bio’s own research interests.
SID 2025: Advancing the future of investigative dermatology
The Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting took place from May 7–10, 2025, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California. As a cornerstone event in dermatology, SID 2025 featured a wide array of sessions and presentations covering the latest findings in lab-based, clinical, and translational research.
Ten Bio also proudly sponsored the 2025 PC Project Patient Support Meeting, held just before the main SID event. PC Project is a longstanding charity dedicated to advancing treatments for the rare condition pachyonychia congenita (PC), a cause our founding team has been committed to for over two decades.
This was an incredibly valuable and energising experience for the Ten Bio team. As exhibitors, we were proud to showcase our TenSkin™ model equally to academic and industry leaders. From thought-provoking sessions on inflammatory pathways to insightful discussions on translational models and therapeutic development, the event highlighted just how dynamic and collaborative the field has become. We’re returning with fresh ideas, new connections, and a renewed appreciation for the impact of physiologically relevant ex vivo models in accelerating discovery.
Microneedles 2025: Meeting delivery challenges head-on
From May 11–14, 2025, Ten Bio ventured to the southern hemisphere for the first time to exhibit at the 8th International Conference on Microneedles being hosted at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The conference, themed “Pathways to Products,” united experts from academia, industry, government, and philanthropic organizations to explore translating microneedle innovations from lab to commercial deployment—with dedicated sessions diving into regulatory hurdles, manufacturing scale-up, and real-world implementation.
The current landscape was excellently laid out in the opening session by Prof. James Birchall with his talk “Where are we now and where do we need to get to?” concisely summarising progress in the field, and areas that still have unmet needs. As interest grows in microneedle-based delivery systems for a widening array of applications including, vaccines, cosmetics, and therapeutics, the need for realistic and reliable testing platforms is becoming increasingly important. TenSkin™ meets this need by providing a tension-maintained, viable human skin model that enables accurate evaluation of microneedle performance. We were pleased to see TenSkin™ featured in several leading presentations at the meeting, highlighting its value in advancing the field.
Reflections and what’s next
Across these three events, we observed recurring themes: a shift towards more human-relevant models, a focus on translational relevance, and a shared drive to accelerate innovation while reducing animal use in research.
As Ten Bio continues to advance, these conversations will help shape our collaborations with clients, our in-house research priorities, and the way we engage with the wider scientific and regulatory community in pursuit of the goals of improved data outputs without animal testing. If we met you at one of these events – thank you for connecting. We look forward to sharing more of our thoughts in these important fields of biomedical research soon.
Ten Bio Team June 2025.
