EFPIA and ECHA publish more data to help developing alternative methods to animal tests

ECHA/NR/23/14 

Additional information about the hazard properties of 75 substances from 370 tests has recently been published as IUCLID datasets. This more than doubles the amount of data that was made initially available for the scientific community developing alternative test methods when the joint initiative kicked off a year ago.

Helsinki, 17 May 2023 – A pilot project led by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and supported by ECHA, has made an updated set of archived data from unpublished chemical tests available on the IUCLID website. The database contains now altogether information about the hazard properties of 94 substances from 517 tests. This follows the project’s initial delivery of data one year ago. 

This data can help, for example, to develop predictive computational testing models, read across and other alternative test methods with the objective to decrease the reliance on animal testing. The following table gives an overview of the number and type of studies by endpoint groups.

Background

This initiative to publish data on chemicals which were mostly tested to develop syntheses of medicines is a cooperation between EFPIA and ECHA. EFPIA represents the biopharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. 

The pharmaceutical companies participating to the initiative are Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, F.Hoffmann-La Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck KGaA, and Novartis. 
IUCLID is the tool for any organisation or individual that needs to record, store, submit and exchange data on chemical substances using harmonised templates. It is developed by ECHA in association with the OECD.