ICCVAM Public Forums
ICCVAM’s goals include promotion of national and international partnerships between governmental and nongovernmental groups, including academia, industry, advocacy groups, and other key stakeholders. To foster these partnerships, ICCVAM holds public forums annually to share information and facilitate direct communication of ideas and suggestions from stakeholders.
ICCVAM public forums started in 2014. The 2022 meeting was held virtually on May 26-27 and expanded to two days to cover the large number of activities ongoing within member agencies. More than 100 individuals attended the meeting virtually each day. The program featured 15 presentations from eight of the 17 ICCVAM member agencies each describing activities both to advance new approaches to safety testing of chemicals and medical products and to reduce the amount of testing required. Updates were also provided on ICCVAM committee and international activities. Commenters at the meeting praised the accomplishments of NICEATM, ICCVAM, and ICCVAM member agencies. They asked that agencies establish specific goals and timelines for acceptance of alternatives to animal testing and stressed the need for education and communication about availability and use of alternatives.
The 2023 public forum was held in person on May 18-19 at NIH in Bethesda, MD, with an option for remote viewing. The event featured 15 presentations from 12 ICCVAM member agencies on activities directed toward reducing and replacing animal use for chemical safety testing, as well as updates on ICCVAM workgroup and international activities. The meeting generated broad public interest with over 200 viewers. Presentations from both agency representatives and stakeholder groups highlighted new approach methodologies (NAMs) with the potential to replace animal testing. Speakers from two test method developers described new technologies that could be used to identify chemicals that can cause neurotoxicity in developing embryos or DNA damage. Several presentations focused on regulatory agencies’ initiatives to reduce animal use requirements. Commenters welcomed ICCVAM’s development of an updated validation guidance document on criteria to establish confidence in new methods for regulatory application.