Chapter 2.8 - Japanese Contributions to the Development of Alternative Test Methods

Abstract

There are two organisations in Japan that have been instrumental in promoting the development of alternatives to test methods that use animals: the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (JSAAE) and the Japanese Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (JaCVAM). The JSAAE is a scientific organisation that promotes international acceptance of the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal use (the Three Rs) as a guiding principle in scientific testing. The Society's members are science professionals, who are active in the research, development and surveillance of alternative methods, and who make an effort to educate other professionals, as well as to enhance public awareness of alternatives to animal testing. For more than a quarter of a century, the JSAAE has built a reputation, both in Japan and around the world, for sponsoring significant professional activities, including the 2007 6th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Tokyo, and the 2016 Asian Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Karatsu and Saga. In contrast to the JSAAE, JaCVAM is a public agency that was established in 2005 as part of the Biological Safety Research Center (BSRC) at the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS). JaCVAM's stated mission is to promote the use of alternative methods to animal testing in regulatory studies, while meeting the responsibility of the BSRC to ensure the protection of the public by assessing the safety of chemicals and other materials, as stipulated in NIHS regulations. JaCVAM plays an active role in the approval process for permission to manufacture and sell pharmaceutical and other products, as well as in revising standards for cosmetic products. JaCVAM also participates in International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM), under which it has organised a number of international validation studies that have led to the issuance of nine test guidelines and one guidance document from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).