Colipa acknowledges significant progress on alternative methods
Reaffirms commitment
European Cosmetics Association Colipa has presented the progress it has made in developing alternatives to animal testing to an audience of international scientists, industry associations, NGOs and regulators at the 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC8), in Montreal, Canada last week.
Bertil Heerink, director-general of Colipa said: “The projects we highlighted at WC8 show the progress that we are making in finding alternatives to animal testing, building on the research investments made by the cosmetics industry for more than two decades. We will continue to support scientists and researchers and facilitate collaboration in order to make as much progress as possible, as fast as possible.”
Taking the theme ‘The 3Rs - Together it‟s possible’, the congress featured presentations and exhibitions from leading experts in alternatives to animal testing as well as providing a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas between all interested stakeholders.
The general conclusion was that scientific advances to meet the requirements of the 3Rs had been made, but that major breakthroughs could not be reported at this point in time.
The WC8 aimed to bridge the gap between science and policy making as well as to identify opportunities for further collaboration. Discussions revolved around international developments in the 3Rs – Replacement, Reduction and Refinement – and regulatory testing, alternative method development, and safety and efficacy testing.
Bertil Heerink added: “The Congress made it clear that progress can only be made with continued international collaboration on projects. Colipa is determined to facilitate such collaboration to bring together the best scientists in the world. The WC8 strengthens the existing network and identifies further opportunities that will help us to achieve our goals.”
Colipa also presented its collaborative skin allergy programme at the WC8. This brings together scientists from many different cosmetics companies as well as from academia. The research is building on the biological processes involved in the development of skin allergies, and has led to three in vitro tests, currently being reviewed by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). The tests will form part of an in vitro test toolbox capable defining the potential for skin allergy without needing new animal test data. The toolbox also includes computer simulation models, comparing data with existing similar chemicals.