Erin Hill Tag
PETA Science Group Donates $50,000 in Equipment to IIVS
October 11, 2019Gaithersburg, Md. — Animals don't have to suffer for your cosmetics, cleaners, pesticides, or drugs. The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. is donating $50,000 in equipment to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), a nonprofit laboratory in Gaithersburg that conducts and develops animal-free test methods. IIVS will use the VITROCELL® Cloud inhalation exposure system — instead of animals — to assess the effects of substances on the human respiratory tract. Manufactured by German-based VITROCELL Systems, the Cloud system mimics realistic...
Promoting the Uptake of Alternatives to Animal Testing Through the Development of eLearning Tools
September 13, 2019In order to further promote the implementation of Directive 2010/63/EU, the European Commission issued calls for a number of related projects last year. One of these projects is aimed at facilitating the uptake of non-animal alternatives by developing two e-learning modules. The contract for this project was awarded to a consortium consisting of SYRCLE, the Swiss 3R Competence Centre, lnstitute for ln Vitro Sciences, Pharma Launcher and Ecorys UK. This consortium will develop two modules, i.e., one eLearning module focused...
kDPRA: An in chemico Method to Characterize the Skin Sensitization Potency of Chemicals
September 13, 2019While the skin sensitization hazard of substances can readily be identified using non-animal methods, the classification of potency into UN GHS sub-categories 1A and 1B remains challenging. The kinetic direct peptide reactivity assay (kDPRA) is a modification of the DPRA (OECD TG 442C) wherein the reaction kinetics of a test substance towards a synthetic cysteine-containing peptide is evaluated. For this purpose, several concentrations of the test substance are incubated with the synthetic peptide for several incubation times at 25°C. After...
IIVS Receives Support for Non-Animal Testing From RIFM
September 9, 2019September 10, 2019, Gaithersburg, MD – The Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc. (IIVS) is excited to announce that it has received a grant from the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) to support its mission to promote non-animal methods. The grant will be used to purchase equipment that will enable IIVS to expand capabilities and offer several non-animal tests in compliance with Good Laboratory Practices. “RIFM and IIVS have a long history of working together to identify non-animal testing approaches...
IIVS and Partners Win Contract from the European Commission to Develop Training for Non-animal Testing Methods
July 16, 2019July 16, 2019, Gaithersburg, MD – The Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) is pleased to announce it is part of a winning consortium, headed by SYRCLE (the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory animal Experimentation), to develop interactive eLearning training modules. The application of the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal testing, commonly known as “The 3Rs,” is a requirement in the European Union Directive 2010/63/EU “on protection of animals used for scientific purposes.” Training is an essential component to...
European Partnership Supports IIVS Training of Chinese Scientists in Non-animal Tests
May 9, 2019Gaithersburg, MD – May 8, 2019 – The Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc. (IIVS) has received a grant from the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) to support its annual training of Chinese scientists in non-animal testing methods. As part of the agreement, two scientists from BASF SE, a member of EPAA, will join IIVS to provide hands-on training in China for four non-animal approaches for skin sensitization. This training follows the recent announcement by China’s...
Regarding the References for Reference Chemicals of Alternative Methods
March 18, 2019The selection of reference and proficiency chemicals is an important component of method validation and proficiency evaluations. Reference chemicals are a set of test substances used by a method developer to evaluate there liability and relevance of a new method, in comparison to reference data (usually to a validated reference method). Proficiency chemicals, as defined in OECD Guidance Document on Good In Vitro Method Practices, are defined post validation as a subset of the reference chemicals, or other chemicals with...
Non-animal Vaginal Irritation Method Admitted into the US FDA Medical Devices Development Tool (MDDT)
October 18, 2018FDA’s recently launched Predictive Toxicology Roadmap calls for the optimization of non-animal methods for the safety evaluation of drugs, consumer products and medical devices. We have created an Industry Consortium comprised of manufacturers of personal lubricants/vaginal moisturizers and companies interested in the advancement of animal alternatives working collaboratively with stakeholders and the US FDA to develop an in vitro testing approach that could be used in place of the rabbit vaginal irritation (RVI) in pre-market submissions....
How the Good In Vitro Method Practices Guidance Document Can Help Implement New Toxicological Approaches: A Case Study in China
October 17, 2018Currently China is striving to adopt and implement non-animal, including in vitro, testing approaches for the safety assessment of cosmetics and ingredients. Collaborative efforts between industry and the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS, Gaithersburg, USA) have focused on the transfer of several OECD Test Guideline methods to government laboratories in China and have supported the creation of an in vitro toxicology testing laboratory within the Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control (Hangzhou, China). Recently BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and IIVS...
IIVS Appointed to China’s Alternatives Working Group for Cosmetics
October 9, 2018Gaithersburg, MD – October 9, 2018 – U.S. based Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) has been invited by China’s National Institute for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC) to join their working group on alternatives for cosmetics. The newly established group was announced by the NIFDC during their 2nd International Conference on Cosmetics Alternative Methods held in Beijing in September. Chaired by NIFDC Vice Director, Lu Yong, the working group also includes representatives from several provincial government agencies and companies...