April 2019

Accounting Assistant

April 18, 2019
We are seeking a full time Accounting Assistant (30-40 hours per week) to work in our Gaithersburg office. This is an exciting opportunity to join and grow with our team to contribute and share in our company vision: A day when methods based on humane, wisely applied science will be used by industry and the regulatory agencies to understand the true safety and efficacy of substances. The Accounting Assistant provides support to the Controller by performing data entry, processing and recording...

PCRM & IIVS Co-Host FREE Training

April 17, 2019
The two day training, NURA: Evaluating Toxicology Information using Modern Science, will be held at IIVS on May 21-22, 2019. Training will be presented by regulators, industry personnel, and toxicology experts and will focus on how to incorporate modern methods into your testing strategies and safety assessments. Register now to secure your spot.    ...

Save the Dates for ESTIV 2020!

April 15, 2019
The 21st International Congress for the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV) will be held 8-11 June 2020 in Sitges, Spain, about 20 miles southwest of Barcelona. The general theme is "Key enabling non-animal technologies for research, education and testing." More specifics, including abstract submission, registration and housing to come....

IIVS and BMS Co-authored Article Receives Publisher’s Award at SOT 2019

April 10, 2019
IIVS is proud to announce that the journal article Evaluation of a tiered in vitro testing strategy for assessing the ocular and dermal irritation/corrosion potential of pharmaceutical compounds for worker safety, co-authored by IIVS and Bristol-Myers Squibb, was awarded the Prize for the Outstanding Dermal Toxicology paper published in Cutaneous & Ocular Toxicology in 2018. Recognition was provided by the editor of the journal, A. Wallace Hayes, on behalf of the publisher, Taylor & Francis, during the 2019 Annual Meeting...

The Björn Ekwall Memorial Award Winner 2019

April 9, 2019
IIVS is pleased to congratulate Jan van der Valk, Ph.D., director of the 3Rs-Centre Utrecht Life Sciences, who has been awarded the Björn Ekwall Memorial Award for 2019 for his work to encourage the replacement of fetal bovine serum (FCS) in cell culture medium. Additionally, he has been recognized for establishing the fetal bovine serum free database, a forum to allow discussion between researchers on the applicability of alternatives to FCS....

China’s Acceptance of Certain Non-Animal Testing Methods for the Regulation of Cosmetics

April 3, 2019
Gaithersburg, MD – April 3, 2019 – The Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) applauds China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for their acceptance of certain non-animal (alternative) test methods for the regulation of cosmetics. In a notice issued on March 22, the NMPA drafted acceptance of nine test methods including: Direct Peptide Reaction Assay (DPRA) for Skin Sensitization (OECD TG 442C) Short Time Exposure Assay (STE) for eye irritation (OECD TG 491) These new regulations will go into effect January...

Illinois’ Senate Bans Sale of Cosmetics Tested on Animals

March 28, 2019
The Illinois state Senate has passed a bill which would amend the state's Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act to include a ban on the sale or import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals. Overall, the bill is in line with the California Act which is currently the most stringent law within the U.S. The Illinois bill is now being considered by the state's House of Representatives....

EUSAAT 2019 Registration Open!

March 27, 2019
EUSAAT has opened registration for the 19th Annual Congress in Linz, 10-13 October 2019. The deadline for abstract submissions for both oral presentations and posters is 14 June 2019. Please read the guidelines for submissions. For young scientists, EUSAAT is providing travel support to attend the conference through the EUSAAT 2019 YSTA Program. The deadline to apply is 14 June 2019.    ...

China’s NMPA Approves Two New In Vitro Methods For Regulating Cosmetics

March 22, 2019
We are pleased to share that today China’s National Medical Products Association (NMPA) has approved new methods for the regulations of cosmetics.  Among these are two in vitro methods: DPRA for skin sensitization and the Short Time Exposure (STE) assay for eye irritation. IIVS’ International Outreach Program introduced these methods during its training program with NMPA and we will continue to support their implementation in key laboratories....

Shipping Study to Evaluate the Performance of the LabCyte EPI-MODEL 24 Tissues for Use in the Skin Irritation Test (OECD TG 439) After Long-Haul Airfreight

March 18, 2019
It is recommended that an evaluation of the impact of shipping of Reconstructed human Epidermis (RhE) tissues be conducted especially after long-haul airfreight shipments. The OECD Test Guideline 439 (OECD TG 439), In Vitro Skin Irritation: Reconstructed Human Epidermis Test Method, recommends that users do so by verifying the barrier properties of the tissues after receipt. In this study, LabCyte EPI-MODEL 24 tissues were received in the USA after an overnight shipment from Japan and were tested to evaluate their performance...