EuropaBio is a founding member of EPAA - A
platform for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing
Unprecedented collaboration accelerates work to
reduce, refine and replace animal testing for safety assessment
Significant progress made.
Twenty-seven companies join forces with the European Commission
services. We anticipate that even more companies will engage in the
Partnership, says European Commission and European industry
Brussels, 18 December 2006
The European Partnership on Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA)
today presented its progress report one year on from its launch. On the
occasion of this second “Europe Goes Alternative” conference in
Brussels, representatives from the European Commission and European
industry welcomed the significant achievements that have been made
during the last 12 months, but stressed the importance of even more
partners joining the collaboration.
“In the past 12 months, 19 companies have joined the European Commission
and the eight founding industry members of the EPAA, and this increase
in expertise and resource has allowed us to accelerate progress” said
EPAA Steering Group co-chairs Georgette Lalis (for the European
Commission) and Charles Laroche (for European industry). “Nevertheless,
if we are to achieve our ambitious aims of rapidly developing new safety
assessment models that reduce, refine and replace animal testing, we
need the broadest group of partners possible. We strongly encourage
other companies to join the EPAA” they added.
The unprecedented character of the partnership, bringing together seven
industry sectors and numerous Commission services, was able in its first
year to identify common grounds for collaboration, to put in place a
five-year action programme based on a preliminary and realistic
assessment of needs, and to establish a structure for implementation of
the programme drawing on the expertise of all member companies and
Commission services.
Although the majority of actions have a medium to long-term perspective,
a number of short-term objectives have been achieved this year. The
first attempt to document all activities relating to the refinement,
reduction and replacement of animal tests has, for example, as well as
process leading to facilitating validation have been progressed rapidly.
In future years this will be key to focussing research and avoiding
possible duplication of effort. Similarly, a project to map all
legislation governing animal testing for safety assessment has
identified a number of areas where collaboration between industry and
regulators can enhance application of replacement, reduction and
refinement methods in safety testing.
Ms Lalis and Mr Laroche commented, “Although much has been achieved in
the EPAA’s first year, we still have a long journey ahead of us.
However, we are absolutely certain that the only really effective way to
tackle the challenges ahead is through a genuinely collaborative
approach, and we look forward to this partnership developing further in
2007 and beyond”.
For more information on EPAA or a copy of the 2006 progress review,
please contact
the EPAA secretariat:
entr-epaa@ec.europa.eu
or visit : www.epaa.eu.com
