| December 16, 2006, edition #10-2006 Xmas-Xpress |
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Dear ecopa messenger subscriber,
This is the fourth "ecopa messenger" edition in 2006.
It contains the presentations of the eSi (ecopa Science Initiative) Workshop in Alicante of September 2006.
Some of the most interesting were also presented at the ecopa Annual Meeting (Science Fair).
As REACH was going into the second – and final - hearing in the European Parliament on December 13, 2006, the 7th ecopa Annual Workshop was the forum for alternative method
development once again. The workshop focussed on the implications of REACH one more time and addressed the further need for basic science approaches and was entitled: “REACH for help, science back up?”. The meeting also reported on the consensus REACH impact documentation of the ecopa/CONAM Working Group on Chemical Policy. The numbers shown called everybody’s attention to the fact that for the major part of the REACH legislation, there will not
be any benefit from newly developed alternative methods (esp. in the area of reprotoxicology) any more. This is due to the REACH timeline, starting now by midst of 2007.
There are updates in this newsletter on the 6th EU Framework Programme projects that ecopa is participating in, such as ReProTect, PREDICTOMICS and Sens-it-iv, Liintop, Bio-Sim, CARCINOGENOMICS.
Actually, December 18, 2006, the Commission and Industry partnership EPAA will have their first convention in Brussels. The first results of the working groups of this partnership will be presented.
The program of the ecopa Annual had addressed the potential of that partnership for alternative method development, and the impact it could have. The need for science assistance and involvement of regulatory authorities was expressed as was the conviction expressed that having all industrial sectors working together with the Commission was of essence and might make a difference in future.
Any proposal or recommendation regarding style, content or distribution of the newsletter is highly welcome and appreciated (bgarthoff@t-online.de).
Let me wish you a peaceful season and all the best for the coming year!
Bernward Garthoff
Treasurer ecopa on behalf of the ecopa Management Board
P.S.: If you know other people or institutions interested, have them visit our website and subscribe to this newsletter. |
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Issue # 10 (December 2006) |
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I.1.1. Recent News on REACH:
Finally REACHed: Compromise adopted in EP plenary on December 13, 2006 in Strasbourg.
The EP plenary has adopted in 2nd reading the compromise package on REACH, as it was negotiated on November 30, 2006. The result of the vote was 529 in favour, 98 against and 24 abstentions, which represents a huge majority. The votes against came from the Green and the Communist groups, and a few dissident votes from the main groups. All other amendments therefore either fell or were rejected by the same or similar majorities.
In 2nd reading, there is no final vote, only a vote on the (package of) amendments. The Council will now very soon (probably during the Environment Council on December 18, 2006) rubber stamp this deal and after the signing of it by the Council and EP Presidents, the regulation will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and then enter into force on July 1, 2007.
According to EP parliamentarians, it is expected that the final “catalogue” of regulations will consist of roughly 20,000 pages, of which 5000 are written already.
ecopa had accompanied the whole legislation process from the very start, because of the utmost impact REACH has on animal testing and potential use of alternative methods. More recently, in its workshop on REACH on Feb.1, 2006 and the last ecopa Annual, end of November, ecopa addressed these issues again.
The development of a special (animal test) calculator (free download), made the impact “visible” to the public.
Within its EU 6th FP project CONAM, the Chemical Policy Working Group will release an impact report by the first quarter 2007.
I.1.2. More EU REACH information
European Partnership on Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA)
The EU Commission under lead of Commissioners Verheugen and Potocnik, had initiated a partnership program with the industry and industry associations resp. individual companies. A first kick off meeting was held on November 7, 2005 – a follow up on this approach "Europe goes alternative" will be held each year.
This year, the follow-up workshop will take place on December 18, 2006 at the European Commission, Charlemagne, S 3, Rue de la Loi / WetstraatB-1040 Brussels, Belgium.
The partnership thereby has finalized the development of the program; all the details known until now are on the website.
» http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/814&type=HTML&aged=0
» http://europa.eu.int/rapid/searchResultAction.do?search=OK&query=Indus&username=PROF
The EPAA has agreed for 21 activities to be carried out over the next 5 years.
A mirror group of stakeholders including animal welfare bodies and patient groups had input into the process in the first Mirror Group Meeting on Oct. 12, 2006. Participants from ecopa: Vera Rogiers, Horst Spielmann and Ove Svendsen. The minutes of this meeting are also to be found on the EPAA website.
I.1.3. GHS (Globally Harmonized System)
The EU is not only in the process of developing and putting in place the new chemicals policy REACH, but it is planning to implement the globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labelling of chemicals at the same time. The best current estimate is that REACH will come into force early in 2007. Clearly, the GHS is behind REACH in the regulatory process though the first version is around since 2003, after 10 years of preparation. The Commission has drafted much of the proposal to implement GHS and will meet key stakeholders in 2006 for an abbreviated public consultation.
The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) provides a harmonised basis for globally uniform environmental, health and safety information on hazardous chemical substances and mixtures. It was developed at UN level. At the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, the European Commission, the EU Member States and stakeholders from industry and non-governmental organisations have endorsed the UN recommendation to implement the GHS in domestic law.
After a transitional period, the GHS Regulation will replace the current legislation on classification and labelling, i.e. Council Directive 67/548/EEC for substances and Directive 1999/45/EC for preparations, the latter now being called “mixtures” under GHS. With the draft proposal, the Commission intends to maintain the overall level of protection provided by the current legislation. Moreover, the drafted GHS Regulation does not intend to impose any additional burden on enterprises other than that associated with the transition.
The Commission Services Directorate-General (DG) Enterprise & Industry and DG Environment with technical support from DG JRC have drafted a proposal for a Regulation which would introduce the GHS criteria into Community law. Following examination of the replies, the Commission Services plan to update the draft proposal and draft an own impact assessment in order to enable the Commission to take a decision on the GHS proposal as soon as possible. When adopted, the proposal will be sent to Parliament and Council for co-decision.
All related documents can be found here:
» http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/ghs_consultation_en.htm
The Stakeholder Consultation on the Implementation of the GHS in Community Legislation was open from August 21, 2006 till October 21, 2006: The non-confidential replies and comments from the Stakeholder respondents related to the stakeholder consultation on the GHS draft regulation are presented on a particular website reserved for stakeholder replies on a weekly basis. The outcome of the online-consultation as well as the consultation documents do not prejudice in any way the final
decision the Commission will take on its legislative proposal.
» http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/ghs_stakeholder_replies.htm
I.1.4. EU-Consultation Process
Increasing the welfare of animals used in experiments: Public consultation on the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.
This internet consultation has been closed on August 18, 2006. The results of the consultation will be published soon on this web-site.
» http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/ia_info_en.htm
I.1.5. New Coalition to represent academic science on EU animals’ directive
The European Coalition for Biomedical Research was launched this week in Brussels to represent the interests of academic scientists in the political debate about the revision of Directive 86/609 on animal experimentation.
Thirty seven academic associations ranging from Lithuania to Portugal have formed the European Coalition for Biomedical Research, which has been set up specifically to address the revision of the EU directive on animal experimentation. Currently there are 34 associations from 17 countries in the Coalition, representing over 37,000 scientists.
EBRA is a founding member of the new Coalition. More information can be found at its website:
» http://www.ecbr.eu/ |
I.2.1. Nanotech
In following-up on our well-received workshop on "Nanotech, Biotech and other new technologies" at the last Annual ecopa-Meeting in December 2005, we would like to draw your attention to recent statements, workshops and data banks that might be of interest for people in the field. The UK's Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering have called "for industry to put the methods they use to test the safety of products containing free nanoparticles ... into the public domain because this is one particular area where there is some uncertainty about safety." OECD released findings from a workshop on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. (ICIS, May 15, 2006, p. 30).
In the mean time, the environmental council has called for putting nanotech products in future under REACH regulations.
I.2.2. Technical Info to use the Forum of ecopa
The Forum Section is now available via the ecopa page or the direct link:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/forum/ |
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II.1. EU 6th Framework Programme Projects / ecopa Working Groups |
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Details, Minutes, Contract numbers and alike will be dispatched on the FORUM pages in future, once activated by the individual teams.
NOTICE:
To avoid misunderstandings and because of inquiries at the ecopa Annual Meeting December 2005 - please, be informed and take note that the abstracts of the EU 6th FP Projects are original abstracts of the project proposals submitted to the EU Commission in most cases, and are not supposed to be adapted after the final contract agreements. Therefore, they will remain and read in their initial form. |
II.1.1.1. Recent News
Representatives of ecopa in EU projects 6th Framework Programme:
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SSA project ForInViTox (Forum for researchers and regulators to meet manufacturers of toxicology test methods) - ecopa is represented by Dr. Odile De Silva. She accepted to become a member of the reference group of this SSA project and part of the inner core of the Forum that will be established within the project. |
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BioSim – Flavia Zucco accepted the invitation to represent ecopa in this EU Project |
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CARCINOGENOMICS – Bernward Garthoff is the ecopa representative in this upcoming IP FP6 project. ecopa has taken over the Work Package of dissemination of results of the consortium. |
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ACute Tox – Peter Maier is the representative in the Advisory Board. |
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Sens-it-iv – Vera Rogiers is the representative in the Advisory Board, and ecopa is seconding in the dissemination of results |
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PREDICTOMICS – Bernward Garthoff is the representative in the Advisory Board |
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Liintop – Horst Spielmann is the representative in the Advisory Board |
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ReProTect – Karin Gabrielson, Vera Rogiers and Bernward Garthoff (Chair) are representatives on the Supervising Board, and ecopa is seconding in the dissemination of results |
The CONAM Review Board Meeting took place on October 20, 2006 in Brussels at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
The next CONAM and Board review meeting will be held on the 5th of March 2007 in Paris.
II.1.1.2. Platforms
II.1.1.2.1. Austrian Platform
» z e t – Austrian Centre for Alternative and Complementary Methods to Animal Testing
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The Austrian Platform has supported the organization of the MEGAT Workshop in Linz/Austria. The abstracts and the program can still be consulted on
» http://www.zet.or.at/kongress/Linz2006/program.html |
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The next congress will take place on September 28-30, 2007, “14th Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing & 11th Annual Meeting of MEGAT - Middle European Society for Alternatives to Animal Testing”, Linz, Austria
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II.1.1.2.2. Belgian Platform
» Foundation Prince Laurent
II.1.1.2.3. Czech Platform
» CZECOPA
II.1.1.2.4. Danish Platform
» DACOPA
II.1.1.2.5. Dutch Platform
» NCA - The Netherlands Centre Alternatives to Animal User
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A report entitled "Regulatory Animal Testing" by Schiffelers et al. Utrecht University, has recently appeared. The study describes the factors and actors that influence the use of animal testing to comply with regulatory requirements. The study was conducted in the framework of the ZonMw "Limits to Animal
Testing" programme. (available as a PDF doc at www.bio.uu.nl under "publications") |
II.1.1.2.6. Finnish Platform
» Fincopa
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Fincopa, the Finnish national platform of ecopa was officially established in Tampere September 21, 2003, during the Scandinavian Workshop on In Vitro Toxicology, in a meeting of 10 Finnish participants representing academia, industry, animal welfare and government. In the meeting the goals of this Finnish national
platform were defined and a draft of the rules of Fincopa was presented. Fincopa was registered as an official society in the Register of Foundations by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland November 09, 2004. |
II.1.1.2.7. Latest news on the creation of the French platform
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The French platform is in a good way to be created, probably at the beginning of 2007. In France, a lot of projects are emerging and one is convinced of the necessity to integrate all of them in the same national structure.
In summary, Afssaps (Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé) will be the coordinator of this project and will probably be associated to Afsset (Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Environnement et du Travail) and Ineris (Institut National de l’Environnement industriel et des Risques) for the regulatory representation. The Ministry of Research will be also included into this platform.
Two animal welfare organisations are already involved as partners, such as OPAL (Oeuvre pour les animaux de laboratoire) and LMDA(Ligue Française des Droits de l’Animal).
At this time, an official procedure is ready to be sent out in order to involve private and public research institutions. The adressed partners from the Public research are the following; CNRS (Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique), INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale) and from Industry (official procedure); Cosmetic – FIP (Fédération des Industrie de la Parfumerie), Chemical – UIC (Union des Industries Chimiques), Drug – LEEM (les Entreprises du Médicament), SPTC (Société de Pharmaco-toxicologie Cellulaire). |
II.1.1.2.8. German Platform
» Stiftung set
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The Annual Report for 2005 has been published.
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II.1.1.2.9. Hungarian Platform
II.1.1.2.10. Italian Platform
» IPAM - Italian Platform on Alternative Methods
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IPAM will organise a Formative Workshop on Alternative Methods to Animal Experimentation, addressing experts for ethical committees on February 15-16, 2007. This workshop is an activity of the EU Project “CONAM”- Ecopa, Workgroup 3 "Education".
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II.1.1.2.11. Irish Platform
II.1.1.2.12. Norwegian Platform
» Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
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Prof. Adrian Smith gave an update on the situation in Norway during the 7th Annual ecopa Workshop, that took place on November 25-26, 2006, at the Sheraton Airport Hotel in Brussels, Belgium. His presentation can be viewed here:
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II.1.1.2.13. Polish Platform
» polcopa
II.1.1.2.14. Spanish Platform
» REMA – Red Española para el Desarrollo de Métodos Alternativos a la Experimentación Animal
II.1.1.2.15. Swedish Platform
» Stiftelsen Forskning utan djurförsök
II.1.1.2.16. Swiss Platform
» 3R Research Foundation Switzerland
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Update on Activities and the Annual Report:
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II.1.1.2.17. UK Platform
» The Boyd Group
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The FORUM page for CONAM is now activated, see above for technical details.
Also, the FORUM will contain the more general information available on the CONAM project, which will not necessarily be referred to by this newsletter so, check it out (» ecopa forum).
As part of the CONAM project and in response to the request of the EU, we will give any news, minutes of project (as far as they are non-confidential and non-proprietary) or post relevant info in the respective Forum Section. We will refer to it by use of the Newsletter. Also, as part of ecopa extended mission, we will refer to up coming events such as local workshop, conferences, meetings of the NCPs or ecopa working group etc. on our Website (» events
section), and if appropriate, in this newsletter.
Please supply us with the relevant info whenever deemed useful in your own interest.
II.1.1.4. Interested to form a new national platform in your country?
Please contact us (» contact section).
For an upfront info how to create a platform in your country, and which criteria to apply? See also the presentation of Jose Castell at the Stakeholder Workshop in Prague ECVAM/ecopa Stakeholder Workshop:
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| All the abstracts of the following projects are to be found on the forum of the ecopa website, see the comment under II.1. |
This 6th FP-project, that ecopa had co-initiated and in which ecopa is represented with 3 members in the Supervising Board including the Chairperson, was started in 2003 with 21 partners.
The overall funding is scheduled to be 9.1 mio EUR, resp. 13.5 mio EUR. Contract with the EU was signed on July 1, 2004; the administration is performed by Prof. Michael Schwarz, University of Tübingen.
II.1.2.1. Recent News
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PDF: Minutes of the 5th ReProTect Supervising Board Meeting, Jul. 5 2006, Uppsala, Sweden
At present not available for the public! |
The yearly annual research meeting took place on December 4-5, 2006 in Ispra, Italy. The next supervisory Board Meeting will take place by Teleconference; midst of January 2007. |
The ecopa-induced 6th Framework Programme project has been started in 2003, with 14 partners, all in all. The overall funding is scheduled to be 2.3 mio EUR. Contract with the EU was signed on September 1, 2004; the administration is done by REMA.
II.1.3.1. Recent News
Find the non-confidential information on the First Annual Report of the PREDICTOMICS project here:
» Publishable Executive Summary
The consortium has launched a new web with several improvements to facilitate the dissemination of the research done. In the public accessible part, clear and easy to understand information is provided to a general reader, as well links to contact the individual groups through the webmaster.
The 4th meeting took place on September 20-21, 2006, and was hosted by Dr. Patrick Maurel in Montpellier (F). The meeting allowed a discussion and the approval of the 2nd Year Report to be submitted to the Commission.
Websites: www.predictomics.com or www.predictomics.org
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II.1.4.1. Recent News
The first Acute Tox newsletter appeared in December with amongst others a summary of the project results accomplished during the first project year.
There will be more Newsletters during 2007, in February and in September.
You can subscribe to it by sending an email to ACuteTox@expertradet.se and in the mean while, it can be consulted on the website: www.acutetox.org |
Sens-it-iv is an Integrated Project financially supported by a grant from the European Commission (LSHB-CT-2005-018681).28 groups overall, of which 9 represent industry. 15 groups represent universities or research institutes, while 4 groups represent organizations.
II.1.5.1. Recent News
CONAM / ecopa has taken over the responsibility "spreading the news/results" of this EU project, and released a brochure covering the activities on behalf of Sens-it-iv, and supported the website creation. The folder and poster can be downloaded on the website www.sens-it-iv.eu , section press material.
The first sens-it-iv newsletter appeared. We invite you to subscribe to the sens-it-iv newsletter on the Website: www.sens-it-iv.eu
The General Assembly Sens-it-iv and Meeting of Sens-it-iv Management Team, Steering Committee took place on 8-10 November, 2006 in Hannover. |
BioSim, or "Biosimulation A New Tool in Drug Development" started December 1, 2004. BioSim is a Network of Excellence supported by the European Commission as part of its 6th Framework Programme.
II.1.6.1. Recent News
The second scientific conference for the BioSim Network took take place in the island of Mallorca, Spain, from October 18, 2006 to October 21, 2006 at the Cala Viñas hotel.
The objectives of the conference were:
- to present significant new scientific results obtained by the BioSim participants
- to provide a global overview of the advances in the network during its second year, and
- to foster collaboration among network participants.
For more information the home page of the project is the following:
» www.biosim-network.net |
II.1.7.1. Recent News
ecopa - Representative in Liintop is Horst Spielmann.
The Kick-off meeting of Liintop is planned January 12-13, 2007 in Rome, Italy. |
II.1.8.1. Recent News
The Kick-off meeting of CARCINOGENOMICS took place November 5-7, 2006 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
The first board meeting is scheduled for the January 22, 2007 in Brussels. |
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Additional Projects
Information on these projects can be found at the forum section. |
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II.2.7. Rainbow
» http://www.rainbow-project.eu/
The EC project RAINBOW will organise an international workshop, in Milan, Italy, 11-13 December, 2006 at Mario Negri Institute.
The discussion will be on „How to integrate and make optimal use of animal data, non-animal data and predictions from computer-based modelling in assessing the risk of chemical compounds”. The workshop is aimed at regulators, academic and industrial scientists and stakeholders such as chemical industries, animal welfare experts and public organizations. Registration is free, limited to the availability.
RAINBOW is an EC funded project. The main objective of the RAINBOW project is to gather in a workshop communities with experience in animal and non-animal data and predictions from computer-based modelling to discuss how to achieve a better risk assessment (RA) of chemical compounds, integrating their experiences through a workshop. RAINBOW is multidisciplinary and multisectorial. Regulators, scientists, problem holders, animal welfare experts, citizen organizations, and chemical industry
will participate. The workshop discussions will be useful to break down barriers between scientific and societal areas. The REACH initiative will be discussed in its implications on the integration of methodologies.
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EU 7th Framework Programme Projects / preparation: SusChem |
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II.3.1. Sustainable Chemistry
The Technology Platform SusChem has been formed and finalized its Implementation Action Plan. The action plan can be downloaded from the SusChem website.
» http://www.suschem.org/
The 4th stakeholder event took place in Budapest, August 27, 2006 in connection with the 1st European Chemistry Congress to discuss the Implementation Action Plan. ecopa participated in the Horizontal Issues Group.
» http://www.suschem.org/media.php?mId=4727
The follow- up stakeholders’ event took place on December 14, 2006, in Brussels, Belgium.
II.3.2. Preparation 7th Framework Programme Projects
News on the workshop "EU funded research on alternatives to animal experimentation: stocktaking from FP6 and views for the future" that took place on June 13-14, 2006. The overall objective of this workshop was to identify gaps in research in the area of development of alternatives to animal testing, to explore ways to close this gap, and to identify opportunities for strategic research activities to be formulated and implemented under FP7.
Additional info on this workshop with the official report and the new topics that were discussed for future projects can be found here:
II.3.3. A look into the future
Although the final overall budget of €54,5 bn is lower than the €72.7m originally proposed by the European Commission, it is still substantially higher then the €16.3bn allocated for FP6 (2002-06). In other words, €7bn/year for research compared with €4bn/year under FP6. SMEs and public non-profit organisations will also get 75% of their costs funded, compared with 50% under FP6. Health (€6050m), nanosciences (€3500m), energy (€2300) and food,
agriculture and biotechnology (€1935m) – including the most controversial area of stem cell research – all receive a welcome boost. (Source: ICIS, 13/7-13/8/2006) |
III.1.1. ecopa events
III.1.1.1. 7th Annual ecopa Workshop
The 7th Annual ecopa Workshop took place on November 25-26, 2006, in the Brussels Sheraton Airport hotel, in Brussels, Belgium, covering REACH:” REACH for help: science back up?” The presentations of this event and photos can be consulted at the ecopa website:
» http://www.ecopa.eu/content/archive.php
III.1.1.2. eSI: ecopa Science initiative
The eSI-Conference under the heading: "Reaching the young scientist" is an initiative organised by ecopa aimed at bringing together senior as well as young researchers to discuss about the new technologies and their applicability in ‘in vitro’ research as well as to improve creativity and innovation in the search for alternative methods. ecopa had performed a detailed literature analysis of the last 5 years of research in alternative methods and had concluded that this area of applied research is drying out.
This was supported by SET (Stiftung zur Förderung der Erforschung von Ersatz- und Ergänzungsmethoden zur Einschränkung von Tierversuchen), DE, The Procter&Gamble/ Eurotox/ Humane Society Award which was given to Vera Rogiers and has been dedicated to this eSI workshop., Bayer AG/RC, DE and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Dept. Toxicology, BE.
III.1.1.2.2 eSI Recent News
The full report of the 2nd eSI meeting, September 29 -30, 2006 at Pueblo Acantilado near Alicante, Spain can be read here.
The final program is listed on the ecopa website in the archive section. |
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III.1.2. other events
European Funding Academy
January 29, 2007 - March 2, 2007, Budapest, Hungary
More info : see brochure concerning the Seventh Framework Programme
NC3R Joint symposium with Biosciences Federation
The NC3Rs in partnership with the Bioscience Federation's Animal Sciences Group is hosting a one-day symposium on Science and the 3Rs to highlight the scientific and technological advances which have implications for the 3Rs and how they have facilitated improved scientific data and better animal welfare.
The symposium which is on March 14, 2007 in London is free to all members of learned societies and professional bodies affiliated to the Biosciences Federation.
The closing date for registration is February 5, 2007.
ICT XI - International Congress of Toxicology
July 15-19, 2007 Montreal, Canada For more information about this meeting, please visit our website: http://www.ict2007.org
The 6th World Congress on Alternatives & Animals in the Life Sciences
August 21-25, 2007, Tokyo, Japan.
The on-line abstract submission and registration is now available.
Deadline for abstracts is March 31, 2007.
The programme is available at: http://www.knt.co.jp/ec/2007/wc6/sc.html |
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III.2.1. 2006 Eurotox/HIS/P&G Awards
Dr. Paolo Ciana received the alternatives award for his contribution to the development of elegant transgenic animal models that can be used for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. This model is based upon integration of a biosensor that can be expressed in all cells. Application of such animal models can potentially replace older methods requiring animal sacrifice and likewise can reduce the overall number of animals used as several end points and time points can be studied in the same animal. The model also represents a refinement in that the potential suffering of animals can be nullified as noninvasive techniques such as in vivo optical imaging are used to visualize effects. The model will thus contribute to the 3Rs. Dr. Ciana is Aggregate Professor at the Centre of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences at the University of Milan in Italy. The award of €25,000 will be applied to a research project focused on further refinement of the model in order to increase its sensitivity and the applicability to other receptor-mediated effects.
III.2.2. 2007 North American Animal Welfare and Alternatives Award
Applications are due by January 17, 2007. The three awards are funded by Procter & Gamble. Selection of the recipients will be undertaken by a panel nominated by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Procter & Gamble.
» http://www.pg.com/science/awa_awards_intro_na.jhtml
III.2.3. 2006 Intervet - Dieter Lütticken Award
For those interested please refer to the link of the press release "Intervet Dieter Lütticken Award - Intervet’s award to reduce the number of animals used in testing for development and production of animal veterinary medicines".
III.2.4. Announcement of the Doerenkamp-Zbinden-Prize 2007
The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation for Animal-Free* Research will again award a prize for outstanding achievements in scientific animal protection in 2007. Suggestions for the prize may be made by members of the Foundation Board or the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation as well as by recognized institutions of science and animal protection (e.g. universities, scientific societies, private research institutions, interregional animal protection organisations).
Direct applications for the prize are not possible. Suggestions may be made by the 15th of December 2006. If no convincing suggestions for a laureate are made to the Foundation Board, the prize will not be awarded in 2007. The award ceremony will take place at the 14th Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing in Linz in September 2007).
For more info see website:
» http://www.doerenkamp.ch/en/default.html?id=64 |
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III.2.5. The new ECVAM Workshop Report no. 56 with the title "The Assessment of Repeated Dose Toxicity In Vitro: A Proposed Approach." is
now available. The Workshop Report can be downloaded from the ECVAM Website. http://ecvam.jrc.it/ Please select inside "Publications" the section Workshop Reports.
III.2.6. PDF of ISRTP Workshop Report on Barriers to Alternatives
The pdf is available from the ISRTP website:
» http://www.isrtp.org/
III.2.7. ECVAM database service on alternative methods to animal experimentation
(DB-ALM)
On occasion of its 15th anniversary, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has launched its entire database service on alternative methods to animal experimentation (DB-ALM) on the Internet. ECVAM belongs to the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). DB-ALM owes its origin to a Communication from the European Commission to Council and European Parliament SEC (91)1794. The service shall provide scientists, authorities and also non-experts with factual information presented as evaluated data-sheets (ready-to-use information) on various aspects of advanced and alternative techniques for toxicology assessments. The information made available by DB-ALM includes method-summary descriptions and protocols for their performance (INVITTOX Protocols), evaluation studies, details on formal validation studies and individual test results.
The DB-ALM replaces the Scientific Information Service (SIS) -online version which could refer to more than 5000 registered users from various countries.
ECVAM thanks for the interest shown in this service and hopes to welcome them back to consult DB-ALM at the address:
» http://ecvam-dbalm.jrc.cec.eu.int |
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III.3. Calls
III.3.1. Validation of tests for the detection of mycoplasma contamination
Short description of the contract purpose: Mycoplasma contamination of cell and tissue culture can jeopardise in vitro studies and, therefore, should be regularly checked for mycoplasma contamination. The OECD guidance document on GLP and in vitro toxicology (OECD No 14, 2004) strongly recommends the validation of mycoplasma tests, which are a crucial quality control for cell and tissue culture tests used for regulatory purpose. The study will identify the key issues and experimental design necessary for the detection of mycoplasma in cell and tissue culture methods used in Annex V and OECD TG and assessing the testing protocols used in the regulatory context.
Access to the official notice: Document no: 2006/S 232-248011 published on the 6th December 2006 is available from the Tenders Electronic Daily Homepage.
» http://ecvam.jrc.it/eindex.cfm?voce=m&idvoce=6&CFID=177190&CFTOKEN=28549763
Deadline for obtaining tender documents: December 18, 2006
Deadline for submitting offers: January 15 ,2007
Contact Address: Further information including the relevant tender documents can be obtained from emanuela.rizzardi@ec.europa.eu
III.3.2. ESF/European Science Foundation, Calls 2006
The 2006 Call for New EUROCORES themes is now closed.
The ESF received 47 EUROCORES theme proposals in reply to the 2006 Call for EUROCORES themes which was closed on June 1, 2006. – take out – 47 as news!
EUROCORES (European Science Foundation Collaborative Research)
The scheme provides a framework to bring together national research funding organisations to support European research.
» http://www.esf.org/esf_activity_home.php?language=0&domain=0&activity=7
III.3.3. JRC, Call for Expression of Interest
Validation of alternative test methods - call for expressions of interest The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has launched a call for expressions of interest for the validation of alternative test methods.
To see the full details of the call, please consult the following web address:
» http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?REQUEST=Seek-Deliver&LANGUAGE=en&DOCID=047741-2006
The deadline for submitting tender documents is 24.11.2008.
Document Reference: OJ No S 46-047741 of 8.3.200 RCN: 25319
III.3.4. Call for abstract International Congress of Toxicology, Montréal, Canada ICT XI's theme - "Toxicology: Discovery Serving Society".
Electronically submitted abstracts will be accepted for peer review until 11:59 p.m. (EST), January 18, 2007. Please note the following important deadlines and add them to your calendar:
Abstract Submission Deadline January 18, 2007 (11:59 p.m. EST)
Advance/Early Registration May 1, 2007.
Accommodation Deadline June 1, 2007.
For further information, please visit the Congress web site at: www.ict2007.org or contact the Secretariat at ict2007@nrc.ca The website also contains information on the program, registration, accommodations, organized tours, social functions and many other details to facilitate
your attendance to this international meeting.
III.3.5. Searching for the Animal of Animal Ethics, IX Annual Swedish Symposium on Biomedicine, Ethics and Society, Seglarhotellet, Sandhamn (Stockholm archipelago) June 11-12, 2007
We now call for abstracts for presentations in two parallel sessions. Presentations will be 20 minutes. After each presentation there will be 10 minutes set aside for discussion. Submission deadline: March 1, 2007 Please submit your abstract via e-mail to: bioethics@bioethics.uu.se Abstracts should not exceed 250 words, be submitted in word format and include name, title, affiliation and correspondence address. Programme and abstracs will be published on our website, www.bioethics.se/sympoisum/2007 by
the end of March 2007.
III.3.6. Commission announces date for first FP7 calls
The European Commission has announced the date of the opening of the first calls for proposals under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
With FP7 reaching the end of its adoption process the European Commission has announced 22 December as the day when the first calls for proposals will open.
The Director General of DG Research, José Manuel Silva Rodríguez, made the announcement at a briefing session on the biggest EU Research programme to date. The Seventh Framework Programme will be fully operational as of January 1, 2007 and will expire in 2013.
Registration of Experts for Research Activities
The call for experts for the seventh framework programme will be launched soon.
The personal data collected in the context of the present call will be processed in accordance with the Regulation (EC) n° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 18, 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies on the free movement of such data.
» https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/index.cfm?fuseaction=wel.welcome |
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III.4 VARIA
Nature ‘Animal research: A matter of life and death’
The latest issue of Nature, Volume 444 Number 7121 789-970 News Features Animal research: A matter of life and death, 10.1038/444807a.
» http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061211/full/444807a.html
Animal research: ’Grey Matters’
Many scientists have nuanced views on animal research. But they are rarely heard, says Emma Marris.
Prof. Rogiers, Chair of ecopa, is also cited in this article: ‘She says that in the rest of Europe, the discussion is more “healthy”. “Most people are very well aware of the dialogue and the development of alternatives. We ask that people who are around the table sign a statement that they accept the three Rs-reduce, replace and refine. Usually all the people that we have around the table have no problem with that.”
For more info on this special:
http://www.nature.com/news/specials/animalresearch/index.html
INVITOX 2006
The 14th International Workshop on In Vitro Toxicology (INVITOX 2006) took place in Ostend, from October 2-5, 2006, organized by ESTIV and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV).More than 250 scientists from 29 different countries gathered.
The attendance reflects the growing interest in in vitro toxicology research which is clearly linked with the upcoming legal framework for the EU chemicals policy and the 7th amendment of the cosmetics directive.
Another important driver to attend the workshop is the introduction to new technologies, as the implementation of new tools and new molecular insights moves the field of in vitro research to the front of science. This also attracted young scientists to the field, and may explain the attendance of over 40 students at INVITOX 2006.
More info can be read through the ESTIV newsletter and photos can be viewed on http://www.invitox2006.org/ |
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