The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) has published Validation, Qualification, and Regulatory Acceptance of New Approach Methodologies, a report on establishing confidence in new toxicological test methods.
The document’s key concepts draw upon a 2022 paper co-authored by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, and PETA Science Consortium International e.V. It includes an emphasis on assessing biological relevance when validating new methods rather than solely relying on direct comparisons to in vivo animal data. The report acknowledges that new testing approaches may provide better quality and more relevant information for regulatory decision-making than traditional animal test methods.