Assuring safety without animal testing: Unilever's ongoing research programme to deliver novel ways to assure consumer safety.
Assuring consumer safety without the generation of new animal data is currently a considerable challenge. However, through the application of new technologies and the further development of risk-based approaches for safety assessment, we remain confident it is ultimately achievable. For many complex, multi-organ consumer safety endpoints, the development, evaluation and application of new, non-animal approaches is hampered by a lack of biological understanding of the underlying mechanistic processes involved. The enormity of this scientific challenge should not be underestimated. To tackle this challenge a substantial research programme was initiated by Unilever in 2004 to critically evaluate the feasibility of a new conceptual approach based upon the following key components: 1.Developing new, exposure-driven risk assessment approaches. 2.Developing new biological (in vitro) and computer-based (in silico) predictive models. 3.Evaluating the applicability of new technologies for generating data (e.g. "omics", informatics) and for integrating new types of data (e.g. systems approaches) for risk-based safety assessment. Our research efforts are focussed in the priority areas of skin allergy, cancer and general toxicity (including inhaled toxicity). In all of these areas, a long-term investment is essential to increase the scientific understanding of the underlying biology and molecular mechanisms that we believe will ultimately form a sound basis for novel risk assessment approaches. Our research programme in these priority areas consists of in-house research as well as Unilever-sponsored academic research, involvement in EU-funded projects (e.g. Sens-it-iv, Carcinogenomics), participation in cross-industry collaborative research (e.g. Colipa, EPAA) and ongoing involvement with other scientific initiatives on non-animal approaches to risk assessment (e.g. UK NC3Rs, US "Human Toxicology Project" consortium).
Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Bedford, UK. carl.westmoreland@unilever.com
Carl
C
Westmoreland
Paul
P
Carmichael
Matt
M
Dent
Julia
J
Fentem
Cameron
C
MacKay
Gavin
G
Maxwell
Camilla
C
Pease
Fiona
F
Reynolds
D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003257:Consumer Product Safety / Q000592:standards*; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018570:Risk Assessment