In December 2018 we jointly hosted with Unilever a two day workshop in central London. 

Non-animal approaches (i.e. in vitro and in silico) can provide useful information to inform decision-making for chemical safety assessment in product development programmes.  However, there can be a lack of confidence in these methods, particularly within a regulatory setting. The workshop brought together academic and industry researchers across multiple disciplines to share their knowledge and experiences in applying non-animal methods for decision-making in safety assessment.  It was well attended with over 90 delegates and speakers from industry (including those working on agrochemicals, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products), academia and regulatory agencies from 14 countries.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

• Showcase how non-animal approaches (i.e. in vitro and in silico) are currently being used to enable and improve decision-making for chemical safety assessment, including the use of AOPs/mechanistic approaches and incorporation of exposure science.
   
• Increase awareness and acceptance of non-animal approaches to accelerate their uptake to support decision-making, particularly in a regulatory setting.
   
• Identify scientific gaps that if addressed could have a significant impact on the application and uptake of non-animal approaches.
   
• Encourage collaboration between sectors, to share knowledge and ‘lessons learned’ to maximise the impact of non-animal approaches and to improve safety and efficacy decision-making.

Programme

The workshop was chaired by Professor Ian Kimber OBE, Professor of Toxicology at the University of Manchester. Discussions focused on what is needed to give ‘comfort’ and confidence in these new approaches to make decisions for safety assessment. Copies of their presentations can be found below.

Day 1 Speakers

• Professor Aldert Piersma, RIVM, The Netherlands
• Dr Delyan Ivanov, AstraZeneca, UK
• Dr Joshua Harrill, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA
• Dr Rebecca Clewell, 21st Century Tox Consulting, USA
• Dr Paul Andrews, SimOmics, UK
• Dr Donna Macmillan, Lhasa Limited, UK
• Professor Mathieu Vinken, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
• Dr Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci, Brunel University, UK

Day 2 Speakers

• Dr Tina Mehta, Adama, UK
• Professor Maurice Whelan, JRC, Italy
• Dr Hans Ketelslegers, Concawe, Belgium
• Dr David Jones, MHRA, UK
• Dr Tomasz Sobanski, ECHA, Finland
• Professor Martin Wilks, Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology, Switzerland
• Dr Carl Westmoreland, Unilever, UK
• Dr Warren Casey, NICEATM, USA