« Presentations from the Sept. 24–25 workshop on « Alternative Approaches for Identifying Acute Systemic Toxicity: Moving from Research to Regulatory Testing » are now available below and on the NICEATM website.

At this workshop, representatives from regulatory agencies, academia, and industries developed strategies for advancing alternative methods for product safety testing that meet the needs of regulatory agencies. The workshop was co-organized by NICEATM, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and PETA International Science Consortium Ltd., and was held at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Materials from the workshop are available below and on the NICEATM website. The workshop proceedings will be submitted for publication early next year.

Acute systemic toxicity tests are the most commonly performed type of safety test worldwide. At this workshop, over 60 representatives from regulatory agencies, academia and industry discussed the state of the science of alternatives to animal use for acute systemic toxicity testing and explored ways to facilitate their implementation.

Workshop attendees identified several resources as necessary for meaningful progress in identifying and implementing alternatives: high quality reference data, training on use and interpretation of computational approaches, and global harmonization of testing requirements. Attendees particularly noted the need to characterize variability in reference data being used to evaluate new approaches. NTP and NICEATM scientists plan to take a lead role in coordinating data collection from a number of sources identified during the workshop.

Workshop breakout groups explored different approaches to reducing or replacing animal use for acute toxicity testing, with each group crafting a roadmap and strategy for accomplishing this within a three-year timeframe. NICEATM will coordinate the creation of and provide support for a working group comprised of workshop participants that will be charged with implementing the strategies.

Proceedings from the workshop will be submitted for publication in early 2016. Presentations from the workshop are available below.

This workshop was cosponsored by NICEATM, the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd., and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. »

Workshop Program

Session 1: The Regulatory Landscape: When Is Acute Toxicity Data Required and How Is It Used?

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Joanna Matheson, Ph.D., Directorate for Health Sciences, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Acute Toxicity Testing: Office of Pesticide Programs
Elissa Reaves, Ph.D., Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Requirements and Evaluation of Toxicity Testing in the TSCA New Chemicals Program
Louis Scarano, Ph.D., Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, EPA

Session 2: State of the Science for Acute Toxicity Testing Methods

Alternative Methods for Acute Systemic Toxicity Testing
Rabea Graepel, Ph.D., Systems Toxicity Unit, European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing

From QSAR to Big Data: Developing Mechanism-Driven Predictive Models for Animal Toxicity
Hao Zhu, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University–Camden

Biokinetic Considerations in the Use of In Vitro Systems for Estimating Acute (Systemic) Toxicity
Bas Blaauboer, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University

NRC Report: Application of Modern Toxicology Approaches for Predicting Acute Toxicity for Chemical Defense
David Dorman, D.V.M., Ph.D., Department of Molecular Biosciences, North Carolina State University

Session 3: Case Studies

Vision for Animal-free Pesticide Formulation Assessments
Sean Gehen, Ph.D., Dow AgroSciences LLC

Predicting Acute Toxicity Hazard in the Absence of Experimental Data: Case Studies from the Alternatives Assessment Paradigm
Jay Tunkel, Ph.D., SRC, Inc.

Zebrafish Models for Human Organophosphorus Poisoning
Natàlia Garcia-Reyero, Ph.D., U.S. Army Engineer R&D Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Session 4: Looking Ahead: Mechanisms and Adverse Outcome Pathways

Mechanisms of Acute Toxicity
Dan Wilson, Ph.D., The Dow Chemical Compnay

Computationally Predicted AOPs
Shannon Bell, Ph.D., Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc.

High-throughput In Vitro Assays at NCATS
Menghang Xia, Ph.D., Division of Preclinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences