The European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) has published its 2020 status report, which describes its progress in the development, validation and acceptance of non-animal methods.

EURL ECVAM is part of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the science and knowledge service of the European Commission. Its role in advancing the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal experiments is set out in European law and includes: collaborating in EU and international research initiatives; coordinating and undertaking validation studies of alternative methods for the safety assessment of chemicals; and promoting non-animal methods in the EU and internationally.

The status report:

• Celebrates progress made in re-using chemical safety test data for similar substances to avoid further animal tests. ECVAM has also been working with international partners to develop guidelines on moving to computer-based methods for safety testing such as skin allergy or carcinogenicity tests.
• Confirms advancements have been made in the development of non-animal methods for quality control tests of human and veterinary vaccines.
• Updates ECVAM’s progress in developing guidance on moving away from quality control tests using animals to a ‘consistency-based strategy’ (ensuring that each vaccine batch is similar or ‘consistent’ to a previously tested batch) that use non-animal methods.
• Details ECVAM’s reviews of the use of non-animal methods in seven major disease research areas including breast cancer, brain disorders and heart disease.
• Outlines ECVAM’s work to increase efforts in the development and validation of organ-on-chip methods and plans for a European roadmap for the standardization of organ-on-a-chip technologies.

It is great to read about ECVAM’s ground-breaking work which is making a difference. But much more needs to be done, especially in light of the on-going EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the new Pharmaceutical Strategy.

If we are to achieve the EU’s goal of eliminating animal experiments and deliver improvements for human health and the environment, we need more resources to speed up the development and uptake of non-animal methods, and a concerted effort across the work of the European Commission and member states to prioritise both reduction and replacement.  

Together with our European partners we want to see the creation of a strategic and multi-disciplinary phase-out plan for animal testing in Europe.