Intelligent Testing

It is part of industry's duty of care to ensure the safety of its products before they are placed onto the market. This is true for chemicals as it is for any other product. The risk to humans and the potential impact on the environment are assessed as outlined in chemical regulation (REACH) which, in many cases, requires animal testing to fulfil these obligations.

A global industry needs globally-accepted test methods and frameworks. Test methods need to be validated under the auspices of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Testing can be classified as "intelligent" if different methods available are applied in an integrated and complementary approach, focusing on the information needed from the testing. These methods comprise improved animal tests (in vivo), test-tube (in vitro) and computational methods (in silico), as well as avoiding testing altogether by grouping similar chemicals (categorisation, read-across) and taking into account actual exposure, e.g. by applying the TTC (Threshold of Toxicological Concern) concept. Alternative methods need to undergo the same level of validation as animal tests.

The LRI programme supports the implementation of the 3R principles (refinement, reduction and replacement of animal testing). LRI funding supports the development of in vitro methods (e. g. testing based on cell lines) and computational tools.