As announced in IBO‘s June 30, 2012, issue, the European Commission (EC) planned to ban animal testing this year for all cosmetic products and ingredients sold in the EU, but a delay was likely. On March 11, the EC announced that the ban has taken effect as planned. According to the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, progress has been made on some endpoints for which in vitro tests were unavailable last June. For toxicokinetics, a dermal absorption test has been validated. Undergoing validation are HPLC- and cell-based tests for skin sensitization, and cell transformation assays for carcinogenicity.

Lab product firms are also interested in animal test alternatives. In December 2012, an integrated systems biology partnership for toxicity testing research was launched. Led by the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences and Brown University, sponsors include Agilent and Illumina, as well as Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil and Unilever. The partnership aims to develop human cell-based assays utilizing cell signaling pathways to evaluate dose response.