title: State of the art on alternative methods to animal testing from an industrial point of view: ready for regulation?
abstract: Despite changing attitudes towards animal testing and current legislation to protect experimental animals, the rate of animal experiments seems to have changed little in recent years. On May 15-16, 2013, the In Vitro Testing Industrial Platform (IVTIP) held an open meeting to discuss the state of the art in alternative methods, how companies have, can, and will need to adapt and what drives and hinders regulatory acceptance and use. Several key messages arose from the meeting. First, industry and regulatory bodies should not wait for complete suites of alternative tests to become available, but should begin working with methods available right now (e.g., mining of existing animal data to direct future studies, implementation of alternative tests wherever scientifically valid rather than continuing to rely on animal tests) in non-animal and animal integrated strategies to reduce the numbers of animals tested. Sharing of information (communication), harmonization and standardization (coordination), commitment and collaboration are all required to improve the quality and speed of validation, acceptance, and implementation of tests. Finally, we consider how alternative methods can be used in research and development before formal implementation in regulations. Here we present the conclusions on what can be done already and suggest some solutions and strategies for the future.
authors.affiliation: Ashton Editorial Consulting, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ashton
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Wever
authors.forename: Horst W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaca
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Cyrille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krul
authors.forename: Albrecht
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poth
authors.forename: Erwin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Roggen
mesh_terms: D032761:Animal Experimentation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D003245:Consensus Statements as Topic; D005060:Europe; D033161:Government Regulation; D007221:Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D033181:Information Dissemination; D012106:Research; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*