Adoption of OECD Guideline on Defined Approaches for Skin Sensitization Testing
In June 2021, OECD issued Guideline 497, Defined Approaches on Skin Sensitisation. Drafted and sponsored by ICCVAM agency scientists and international partners, Guideline 497 is the first internationally harmonized guideline to describe a non-animal defined approach that can be used to replace an animal test to identify skin sensitizers. Validation against a curated set of human data indicates that this approach predicts human skin sensitization hazard better than the accepted animal test. NICEATM and ICCVAM are collaborating with stakeholder groups to convene events to raise awareness about the guideline and promote best practices for implementation of defined approaches to skin sensitization testing and assessment.