The Procter & Gamble Company announced the donation of one of its proprietary skin pigmentation control technologies to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The donation includes 32 patents and patent applications and all associated intellectual property.

The donated technology may reduce the dispigmentation that occurs as the result of burns, skin grafting procedures, wounds, acne, chronic inflammation, side effects of drugs, and scarring that occurs during surgery and from accidents.

In addition to these potential uses, further research on the technology will target several potential medical applications, including a condition known as melasma, in which portions of the skin take on a darker color than surrounding skin. Melasma often occurs in women, particularly during pregnancy, and sometimes it never entirely disappears. Melasma has a recurrence rate of up to 70 per cent.

Although Procter & Gamble has made technology donations in the past, this is the first time such a technology has been given to a pediatric medical center - and the first in Cincinnati.

"We are very pleased that skin pigmentation control technology will continue its development under the leadership of Cincinnati Children's, whose Skin Sciences Institute is a world leader in skin care research," said P&G Chairman John Pepper.

Researchers at the Skin Sciences Institute, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and Shriners Hospitals for Children, will engage in studies to determine the technology's mechanism of action in specific cells, conduct human clinical trials and ultimately commercialize the technology.