International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety

What International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety does

International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS) is a private non-profit membership organization founded in early 2023 and headquartered in New York, with a mailing address in Mount Royal, New Jersey. ICCS convenes cosmetics manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, trade associations, and animal protection organizations to advance the development, validation, and regulatory acceptance of animal-free safety assessment methods — referred to as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) frameworks. Its membership includes L'Oréal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, BASF, Kao, Shiseido, Henkel, Beiersdorf, Kenvue, and IIVS, alongside regulatory-affiliated institutions such as the FDA, ECHA, Health Canada, ANVISA, JaCVAM, and OECD participant experts.

ICCS's core deliverables are Best Practice Guidance (BPG) documents providing structured workflows for safety assessors; to date it has published BPGs on Skin Sensitization Assessment Using NAMs (July 2025) and Read-Across (2026), with additional BPGs on eye/skin irritation, TTC, and PBK modeling planned. The organization coordinates more than 50 science projects across three pillars — Human Health, Environmental Health, and Integrating Human and Environmental Health — using in silico, in vitro, and in chemico approaches such as OECD Test Guideline 497 (skin sensitization), TG 498 (3D skin phototoxicity), TG 249 (RTGill-W1 fish cell assay), the MERCI exposure modeling framework, and the Persistence Assessment Tool developed with Concawe, Cefic LRI, and ECETOC.

ICCS funds its operations through membership dues from its 40+ member organizations; specific fee levels are not publicly disclosed. It is governed by a Board of Directors with representatives from 40+ member companies (2026 Chair: Stéphane Dhalluin of L'Oréal) and supported by a 6-person staff led by President and CEO Erin Hill and a 16-member Science Advisory Committee. The organization generates revenue through one model — recurring membership fees — and distributes its content and education resources freely through its website, monthly newsletter, webinars, and an annual symposium (2026 Symposium in Brussels attracted 125+ leaders from industry, regulatory agencies, and NGOs).

Name

International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety

Legal name

International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety

Website

https://iccs-cosmetics.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS) is a non-profit membership organization founded in 2023 that advances the development, validation, and regulatory acceptance of animal-free safety assessment methods (NAMs and NGRA) for cosmetics and personal care products across its 40+ global member companies, associations, and NGOs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New Jersey

HQ country

Trinidad & Tobago

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues and Fees: ICCS is a membership-based organization comprising cosmetics and personal care companies, cosmetic ingredient manufacturers, industry trade associations, and animal protection organizations. ICCS processes membership applications and members contribute to advancing the organization's mission through collaborative scientific work and funding.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

ICCS is a global, membership-based nonprofit that develops, validates, and drives regulatory acceptance of animal-free safety assessment approaches (New Approach Methodologies and Next Generation Risk Assessment frameworks) for cosmetics and personal care ingredients. Its primary deliverables are Best Practice Guidance (BPG) documents providing structured workflows for safety assessors, complemented by education and training programs (webinars, online courses, case studies in multiple languages), an annual symposium, and a coordinated human health, environmental health, and One Health science project portfolio funded by its 40+ member organizations.

Product overview

ICCS is a global initiative that offers a coordinated portfolio of animal-free safety assessment resources rather than a single unified product. The core offerings include Best Practice Guidance (BPG) documents—specifically the Read-Across BPG and Skin Sensitization Assessment BPG—which provide structured workflows for safety assessors. Supporting these are education programs including the NAMs in Practice Webinar Series, NGRA Case Studies, and an Education and Training Platform offering courses in multiple languages. The science programs span Human Health, Environmental Health, and One Health research areas, each developing NAMs and NGRA frameworks for specific safety assessment endpoints. Publications including annual reports and newsletters disseminate findings to the broader community. Together, these components form a comprehensive ecosystem supporting the global transition to animal-free cosmetics safety assessment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Skin Sensitization Assessment Best Practice Guidance (BPG) Freely downloadable Best Practice Guidance document providing a structured workflow for safety assessors applying New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for skin sensitization without relying on new animal tests. Includes practical steps from problem formulation, exposure assessment, data evaluation, to transparent decision-making, aligned with OECD Test Guidelines. Designed for regulatory use by safety assessors transitioning from animal to non-animal approaches.
• Read-Across Best Practice Guidance (BPG) Freely downloadable Best Practice Guidance document providing insights into using a read-across approach for both human health and environmental safety assessments. Aims to increase use and acceptance of read-across by proposing a structured workflow for safety assessors covering problem formulation, analogue identification and evaluation, suitability assessment, and uncertainty characterization, all without new animal testing.
• NAMs in Practice Webinar Series Free webinar series featuring speakers from ICCS member companies sharing first-hand experience applying NAMs in real-world safety assessments. Provides practical insights on implementing BPG workflows to support robust decision-making without animal use, with sessions available on-demand.
• Education and Training Platform Comprehensive educational resources including online courses, webinars, workshops, case studies, and best practice guidance documents available in multiple languages (English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish) for beginner and intermediate skill levels across NAMs and NGRA topics.
• Human Health Science Programs Science programs focused on developing NAMs and NGRA frameworks for human health safety assessments of cosmetics and ingredients, covering endpoints including skin sensitization, genotoxicity, systemic toxicity, read-across, pharmacology profiling, PBPK modeling, and toxicogenomics.
• Environmental Health Science Programs Science programs focused on developing animal-free methodologies for environmental safety assessments of cosmetic ingredients, covering aquatic toxicity, biodegradation, persistence, environmental NGRA frameworks, MARINE exposure modeling, coral toxicity, and the RTGill-W1 fish cell assay.
• One Health Science Programs Science programs integrating human and environmental health assessments, including identification of in vitro and in silico assays for endocrine disruptor evaluations under the EU PARC partnership with VUB.
• NGRA Case Studies Case studies demonstrating Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) frameworks applied to cosmetic ingredients (e.g., Benzophenone-4 case study), providing practical examples for safety assessors.
• ICCS 2026 Symposium Annual in-person symposium convening over 125 leaders from industry, regulatory agencies, and NGOs to advance global transition to animal-free assessments. Sessions cover EU roadmap implementation, NAMs capacity building, endocrine disruption challenges, and ICCS program highlights; available on-demand with multilingual captions.

Quantifiable outcome

• ICCS published its inaugural Best Practice Guidance document on Skin Sensitization NAMs in July 2025, welcomed by regulators and safety assessors as a critical step toward consistent, evidence-based, animal-free evaluations
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and supporting.

• Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2025CHPA joined ICCS in October 2025 as a member, strengthening ICCS's global network of non-governmental, trade/research organizations and industry partners dedicated to advancing animal-free safety assessments for cosmetics and personal care products. CHPA's leadership in consumer health and dedication to regulatory science complements ICCS's mission, particularly in supporting FDA initiatives for alternatives to animal testing.
• BASF, DSM-Firmenich, and SymrisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBASF, DSM-Firmenich, and Symrise are collaborators on the MERCI (Models to Evaluate direct Release of Cosmetic Ingredients into natural waters) Framework project, developing tiered exposure modeling to evaluate potential environmental exposure of cosmetic ingredients (e.g., UV filters) to marine and freshwater.
• AISE and Cefic LRIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAISE (International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products) and Cefic LRI (Long-Range Research Initiative) collaborate with ICCS on the Biodegradation Test Methods Based on Increased Cell Concentrations (ICC) project, which aims to improve biodegradation assessments by developing and standardizing assays with increased cell concentrations for marine water, freshwater, and activated sludge environments.
• Concawe, Cefic LRI, and ECETOCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConcawe, Cefic LRI, and ECETOC collaborate with ICCS on the Persistence Assessment Tool (PAT), a software tool to facilitate regulatory persistence assessment including data quality evaluation, quantitative weight-of-evidence methodology, overall persistence module, and customization for difficult/UVCB substances.
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and PARCmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS collaborates with the In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology group (IVTD) of VUB under the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) to assess methodologies used for endocrine activity evaluation of cosmetic ingredients and other chemicals using only in silico and in vitro approaches.
• OECDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS actively participates in OECD expert groups and Working Parties, contributing to the development and validation of OECD Test Guidelines for animal-free methods (e.g., OECD TG 497 for skin sensitization, OECD TG 498 for 3D skin phototoxicity, OECD TG 249 for RTGill-W1 fish cell assay). ICCS also contributes to OECD Guideline development for reconstructed skin comet and micronucleus assays.
• International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation (ICCR)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS was invited to present its Best Practice Guidance on Skin Sensitization at the ICCR Joint Regulators-Industry Workshop in July 2025, where regulators from more than 12 countries convened to advance non-animal methodologies. ICCS collaborates with ICCR to promote global regulatory acceptance of NAMs.
• AFSA Collaboration (Animal-Free Safety Assessment)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS promotes the AFSA Master Class in Animal-Free Safety Assessment on its education platform. The course covers the entire risk assessment process in 10 modules and is freely available online, supporting ICCS's education and training priority.
• ASCCT (American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS promotes ASCCT webinars on its education platform. ASCCT is a scientific society dedicated to promoting toxicology testing and research that reduces and replaces the use of animals, aligned with ICCS's mission.
• CTPA (Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS promotes CTPA's Online Learning Platform on its education page. CTPA has created an e-learning course on Safety Assessment for Cosmetic Products with seven modules delivered by industry experts, complementing ICCS training resources.
• IIVS (Institute for In Vitro Sciences)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerIIVS is a member organization of ICCS and its training programs are promoted on ICCS's education page. IIVS provides practical methods training from in-person courses to webinars relevant across all sectors and non-animal methods.
• NURA (NAM Use for Regulatory Application)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerICCS promotes the NURA training resource on its education platform. NURA is a free training resource aimed at expanding the use of non-animal methods in regulatory toxicology, developed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
• Ricardo (Persistence Assessment Tool)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRicardo developed the Persistence Assessment Tool (PAT) in collaboration with Concawe, Cefic LRI, and ECETOC. ICCS contributes to this project and promotes PAT training sessions on its education platform, with sessions providing in-depth guidance on tool features and workflows.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Cosmetics Europe: Cosmetics Europe is the trade association representing the European cosmetics and personal care industry. It is comparable to ICCS as a broader industry body with overlapping membership and regulatory engagement priorities; Cosmetics Europe is an ICCS member supporting shared advocacy in the EU.
• Personal Care Products Council (PCPC): PCPC is the U.S. trade association representing the personal care products industry. It is comparable to ICCS as a broader industry organization with overlapping membership and regulatory science priorities; PCPC is an ICCS member collaborating on U.S.-focused NAMs advocacy.

Direct peers

• Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT): CAAT at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is a leading academic center for alternatives research, education, and policy. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both drive the science and policy agenda for replacing animal tests, and both publish guidance and convene stakeholders.
• European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC): PARC is an EU public-private partnership coordinating next-generation chemical risk assessment across hundreds of organizations. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both coordinate multi-stakeholder science for animal-free safety assessment, and ICCS actively collaborates with PARC on endocrine disruption work via VUB.
• PETA Science Consortium International: PETA Science Consortium International funds and promotes the development of animal-free test methods for regulatory use. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both develop and validate NAMs, and PETA Science Consortium is also an ICCS member collaborating on shared science priorities.
• Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM): PCRM is a nonprofit that develops the NURA (NAM Use for Regulatory Application) training resource and advocates for replacing animal tests. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both advance NAMs through education and regulatory engagement, with PCRM's NURA distributed alongside ICCS's own training platform.
• Institute for In Vitro Sciences: IIVS is a nonprofit that promotes non-animal testing methods and provides hands-on training in in vitro sciences. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both organizations advance the development, validation, and regulatory adoption of animal-free safety science — IIVS is also an ICCS member, underscoring the overlap.
• American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology (ASCCT): ASCCT is a scientific society dedicated to reducing and replacing animal use in toxicology. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both build scientific communities around alternative methods, host educational webinars, and convene researchers across academia, industry, and regulators.
• Animal-Free Safety Assessment (AFSA) Collaboration: AFSA is a UK-based collaboration dedicated to promoting animal-free safety science across sectors. It is directly comparable to ICCS as both organizations advance NAMs adoption through education (AFSA Master Class, which ICCS promotes) and shared best-practice guidance.

Emerging players

• European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC): ECETOC is a scientific organization that develops chemical safety science and risk assessment frameworks with industry members. It is comparable to ICCS as both coordinate industry-backed science programs for chemical and product safety, and ICCS staff have direct ECETOC lineage (e.g., Ott, Cuciureanu).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iccscosmetics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety