ICCVAM convenes international panel
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods placed three nonradioactive modified versions and new applications for the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) before an independent scientific peer review panel April 28-29 in Bethesda, Md. Panel was made up of 15 experts from six countries, consistent with spirit of a memorandum of cooperation between U.S., EU, Canada and Japan, signed immediately beforehand, aimed at speeding the global adoption of non-animal testing methods through each country's increased involvement in the process by which tests are evaluated and recommended to regulators (1"The Rose Sheet" May 4, 2009, p. 6). Panelists concluded that available data supports use of the LLNA:DA and LLNA:BrdU-ELISA to identify substances as potential skin sensitizers, with certain limitations, while deferring a formal recommendation for a third version of the LLNA (LLNA:BrdU-FC) until an independent audit of supporting data has been conducted. Panel's full report from the meeting will be published in early June; in the meantime, the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods offers a detailed summary online