ICCVAM Duties and Activities

https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/795672

ICCVAM Duties and Activities

The ICCVAM Authorization Act directs ICCVAM to carry out the following duties:

Coordinate the technical review and evaluation of new, revised, or alternative test methods
Foster interagency and international harmonization of test protocols that encourage replacing, reducing, and refining animal test methods
Assist with and provide guidance on validation criteria and processes
Promote the acceptance of scientifically valid test methods
Promote awareness of accepted test methods
Submit ICCVAM test method recommendations to appropriate U.S. federal agencies
Consider requests from the public to review and evaluate new, revised, or alternative test methods that have evidence of scientific validity
Make ICCVAM’s final test recommendations available to the public
Prepare reports on ICCVAM progress and accomplishments under the Act and make them available to the public

Since its establishment, ICCVAM and ICCVAM member agencies have contributed to the development and regulatory acceptance of a number of alternative methods that address a variety of regulatory applications. These methods are listed on the NTP website.

The table below notes how selected 2014-2015 ICCVAM and ICCVAM agency activities align with the ICCVAM duties as outlined in the ICCVAM Authorization Act.

ICCVAM Duty	Activity
Review and evaluate new, revised, or alternative test methods	Provided oversight and direction for validation study of the OptiSafe test method for ocular irritation Developed a computational approach that integrates several types of data to predict human skin sensitization hazard without using animals Evaluated an integrated testing strategy for identifying potential skin sensitizers without using animals Explored whether data from acute oral toxicity tests could be used to assign EPA dermal hazard classifications, thereby eliminating the need for separate acute dermal toxicity tests
Facilitate appropriate interagency and international harmonization of test protocols that encourage reducing, refining, and replacing animal test methods	Participated on management teams for validation studies conducted by Japan and the European Union Organized two workshops to evaluate ongoing studies of alternatives to the murine histamine sensitization test for safety testing of acellular pertussis vaccines Presented a webinar on in vitro to in vivo extrapolation to encourage research and collaboration in this area
Facilitate and provide guidance on validation criteria and processes	Defined lists of reference chemicals and associated potencies that can be used for future validation of novel androgen receptor and estrogen receptor assays Published “Guidelines for Validation of In Vitro Potency Assays”
Promote the acceptance of scientifically valid test methods	Published “Process for Establishing and Implementing Alternative Approaches to Traditional In Vivo Acute Toxicity Studies” Adopted high throughput assays and computational models for detecting and measuring estrogen receptor bioactivity as an alternative to three Tier 1 tests used in the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program to assess estrogen receptor activity Published Final Rule to update the definition of “strong sensitizer” and clarify the acceptability of in vitro test data for characterization of substances as strong sensitizers Participated in and supported a series of workshops that produced recommendations on use of an in vitro test with potential to replace animal use for pertussis vaccine testing
Promote awareness of accepted test methods	Presented webinar to EPA employees on Validation and Utilization of Alternative Test Methods
Prepare reports on ICCVAM progress and accomplishments under the Act and make them available to the public	Published ICCVAM Biennial Progress Report 2012-2013 Provided updates at 2014 and 2015 ICCVAM public forum meetings

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ICCVAM Biennial Report 2014-2015

ICCVAM Biennial Report 2014-2015

ICCVAM Duties and Activities