A Future with Reduced Animal Testing

It is estimated that currently, 800,000 vertebrate animals are used each year in Europe for toxicological and other safety studies, in order to guarantee the safe use and efficiency of biological, chemical or other products. This number may strongly increase due to implementation of EU chemical safety policies, e.g. REACH. To prepare Europe for a future with reduced animal testing, while still assuring consumer safety, requires a large-scale effort from scientists, industry and governments. ASAT aims to develop a multi-centre research programme to develop new approaches to risk assessment, new in vitro and in silico models and evaluate new technologies for generating data that can be used for risk-based safety assessment.

The ASAT Initiative is being supported by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports in this initial start up phase and four key issues have been selected to elaborate upon in a series of workshops with experts, scientists and stakeholders:

• Risk Assessment, Exposure modelling and (Toxico)kinetics & Biotransformation
• Experimental models: cells in vitro
• Measurement Technology
• Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

The results of the discussions in the workshops will be reported to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport before 1 March 2008. This report will form the basis on future proceedings and the role of the Netherlands government and other parties. The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports is closely co-operating with the Ministries for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment; Economic Affairs and Education, Culture and Science in the development of an ASAT programme.