The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (EVCAM) has released its 61st report of a series of workshops. The main goal of the organization is to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods which have scientific relevance and which reduce, refine or replace the use of laboratory animals.
The report, The Potential of Physicochemical and Immunochemical Assays to Replace Animal Tests in the Quality Control of Toxoid Vaccines was held at ECVAM on April 14-15, 2005 under the chairmanship of Coenraad Hendriksen and Gideon Kersten. The objectives of the workshop were to review the state-of-the-art of physicochemical, biochemical and immunochemical tests for the quality control of diphtheria and tetanus toxoid vaccines and to identify possibilities for and limitations to their use in the regulatory framework.
The workshop concluded that there is sufficient reason to believe that the strategy is feasible for traditional toxoid vaccines. Also, the organization reported that the currently available physicochemical and immunochemical techniques have great potential for in-process testing and for consistency monitoring. Further information, however, will be needed. To view the report, visit http://evcam.jrc.it.
