Health
NIH sets plan to speed development of animal testing alternatives
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 25, 2008
Marking the 10-year anniversary of a large initiative working toward reducing the use of animals in toxicology testing, the National Institutes of Health launched on Feb. 5 a five-year plan to increase the number of industry and public-sector partnerships.
Over the past decade, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods has identified strategies for developing alternatives to animal testing and identified ways for them to get regulatory approval.
The initiative identified 185 test methods that reduce the number of animals needed for a particular test, decrease the amount of pain they undergo or eliminate the need for them entirely.
"We ... look forward to working closely with our government and nongovernment stakeholders to promote good science and validation studies that will support the regulatory use of alternative methods," said William Stokes, DVM, director of the National Toxicology Programs' Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/02/25/hlbf0225.htm.
