EURL ECVAM has issued its 2020 “Status Report on the Development, Validation and Regulatory Acceptance of Alternative Methods and Approaches.” The report is available at https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/non-animal-methods-science-and-regulation
The status report describes research, development, and validation activities, as well as initiatives that promote the regulatory and international adoption and use of alternative approaches and their dissemination. Activities described in the report include:
- Developing guidance for moving from traditional animal tests to non-animal assays for vaccine quality control.
- Validating methods to identify substances with the potential to affect the thyroid signaling pathway, damage DNA, induce skin and respiratory sensitization, or harm fish.
- Exploring how to apply existing toxicity information to predicting different toxicity endpoints.
EURL ECVAM, which is part of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, coordinates research and validation studies on alternatives to animal testing within the European Union. EURL ECVAM also shares knowledge about and promotes use of alternative methods.