ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee

At the 17th meeting of the ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee in 2001, the EST, the MM assay, and the WEC assay were endorsed as scientifically validated assays and ready for consideration for regulatory acceptance. Detailed reports on the performance of these validated assays have been published (5-7). 

Once the test method has been validated, the ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) produces a statement or recommendation on the use of the test method. In some cases, regulatory acceptance is achieved via adoption of the test method by a relevant European commission (e.g., a new Commission Regulation) or a new OECD Test Guideline (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)). 

Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) on the scientific validity of the in vitro micronucleus test as an alternative to the in vitro chromosome aberration assay for genotoxicity testing. ESAC 25th meeting. http //ecvamjrcit/indexhtm. 

The Corrositex model was prevalidated and validated by ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) and had an unacceptably high underprediction rate. Consequently, it was endorsed by ECVAM only for skin corrosion testing of acids, bases and their derivatives (NIH, 1999 ECVAM, 2001). It has not been taken up in the UE legislation, but is, nevertheless, a legal test adopted by the US Department of Transport (US DOT). 

ECVAM has its own Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) with participation from all Member States, relevant industrial associations, academic toxicology, the animal welfare movement, as well as other Commission services with interest in the alternatives topic area. 

An independent peer-review panel should make an official statement on the validity of the QSAR. In the EU, such a statement could be made, for example, by the Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) of the ECVAM (see Worth and Balls [2001] for information about ECVAM... 

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