InVitro Gets Federal Exemption on Product to Test Corrosiveness

InVitro International said Thursday that a federal agency has granted an exemption that will allow companies making corrosive materials to use its product to test the dangers of theirs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation granted the exemption for the use of Corrositex, an InVitro product that is the only alternative so far to using live rabbits to test corrosiveness.

For national and international transportation, companies from Exxon to Dow Chemical need to know how corrosive various merchandise, such as oven cleaners, are in order to get Transportation Department approval to ship those materials.

The only test previously approved was on live rabbits. Corrosiveness was determined by how long it took to burn the shaved backs of six rabbits.

The Irvine company, which says its product is 99% accurate, said the exemption will open major growth avenues for the company.

InVitro lost $5.1 million on revenue of $1.4 million for its latest fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. It lost $727,000 on revenue of $344,000 for its latest fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31.