The NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Advancing Public Health and Animal Welfare

In 1997, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, established ICCVAM to:

• Coordinate interagency technical reviews of new and revised toxicological test methods with regulatory applicability, including alternative test methods that reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals
• Coordinate cross-agency issues relating to validation, acceptance, and national and international harmonization of new, modified, and alternative toxicological test methods

In 2000, the ICCVAM Authorization Act established ICCVAM as a permanent interagency committee of NIEHS under NICEATM.

ICCVAM is comprised of representatives from 15 U.S. Federal regulatory and research agencies that use, generate, or disseminate toxicological information. ICCVAM promotes the scientific validation and regulatory acceptance of toxicological test methods that more accurately assess the safety or hazards of chemicals and products and that reduce, refine (decrease or eliminate pain and distress), and/or replace animal use. NICEATM administers ICCVAM and provides scientific and operational support for ICCVAM-related activities.

ICCVAM's stakeholders are any person or organization that uses, develops or has an interest in toxicological test methods or the data that is generated from toxicological testing. They include:

• U.S. Federal agencies that generate toxicological data
• U.S. Federal agencies that require or use toxicological data
• Agencies within governments of other countries that use or generate toxicological data
• Researchers and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) members in companies or research institutions that perform toxicological testing
• Companies that develop toxicological tests
• Animal welfare organizations
• Consumer protection organizations
• The public

ICCVAM is an interagency evaluation and advisory committee; as such, it does not have labs or resources to carry out research, development, and validation activities. We depend on our stakeholders with these capabilities and resources to carry out alternative test method research, development, and validation studies and to submit the results to ICCVAM for evaluation. ICCVAM then develops recommendations on scientific validity of new and modified test methods, and forwards these to regulatory agencies for acceptance decisions, as required by law.

The ICCVAM evaluation process incorporates a high level of transparency. Our process is designed to provide opportunities and options for stakeholder involvement, including submission of public comments and public participation in peer review and advisory committee meetings. Please contact NICEATM for more information.