The International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM) was established in 2009 to promote consistent and enhanced voluntary international cooperation, collaboration, and communication among national validation organizations. The goals of ICATM are to:
This cooperation enables scientifically valid alternative methods or strategies to be more readily accepted worldwide for regulatory use.
ICATM includes member organizations from the European Union, United States, Japan, Canada, and South Korea (see sidebar). Brazil and China have been participating in ICATM since 2015 as observers.
ICATM meetings provide an opportunity for participant organizations to discuss activities in identified areas of cooperation. These interactions allow ICATM partners to develop good communications and working relationships in support of collaborative test method development. ICCVAM representatives participated in an ICATM coordination meeting in 2016.
In October 2016, ICATM convened a workshop on International Regulatory Applicability and Acceptance of Alternative Approaches to Skin Sensitization Assessment of Chemicals. Workshop participants reviewed current international regulatory requirements for skin sensitization testing, including currently available non-animal approaches for this testing, and considered what steps should be taken to support regulatory acceptance of these approaches. A poster presented at the 2017 Society of Toxicology Meeting (Kleinstreuer et al.) summarized the workshop and its outcomes. A position paper developed from the workshop proposed practical ways to further promote the regulatory use and facilitate adoption of non-animal defined approaches for skin sensitization assessments. Another product of the workshop was a paper summarizing international regulatory requirements for skin sensitization testing, which will be published in 2018. Discussions at the workshop also formed the basis for a proposal to develop a performance-based test guideline for defined approaches for skin sensitization. The proposal was approved at the April 2017 meeting of the Working Group of National Coordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for inclusion in the OECD workplan.
Representatives from JaCVAM, KoCVAM, and Health Canada attended the 2016 meeting of SACATM as nonvoting liaisons; representatives from KoCVAM and CaCVAM attended the 2017 SACATM meeting.
A NICEATM scientist participated on a EURL ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee working group on eye irritation methods in May 2016.
The following ICCVAM workgroups had ICATM member liaison representatives during 2016 and 2017.
ICCVAM Workgroup |
ICATM Organizations with Liaison Members |
Acute Toxicity |
EURL ECVAM, KoCVAM |
Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity |
EURL ECVAM, JaCVAM, KoCVAM |
IVIVE |
EURL ECVAM, JaCVAM |
Ocular and Dermal Irritation |
EURL ECVAM, Health Canada |
Read-across |
EURL ECVAM, JaCVAM |
Reference Chemical |
EURL ECVAM, Health Canada, JaCVAM, KoCVAM |
Skin Sensitization |
EURL ECVAM |
NICEATM or ICCVAM scientists served on the management teams or peer review panels for the following JaCVAM-coordinated validation studies during 2016 and 2017.
NICEATM Director Warren Casey, Ph.D., and Tae Sung Kim, Ph.D. of KoCVAM at the 2017 SACATM meeting