On Thursday evening, Deborah and I had the pleasure of attending the Midlothian & East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2026 at The Venue, Eskmills, Musselburgh. Roper Toxicology Consulting Limited was delighted to be recognised as a finalist in the Best Innovation in Business category. As a consultancy specialising in modern, animal-free approaches to safety assessment, we spend most of our time working with pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical companies around t

The discussion around New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) often focuses on scientific advances, validation, regulatory acceptance and emerging technologies. These are all important topics, but they are not the whole story. As the scientific community develops increasingly human relevant approaches, an important question emerges: What happens to the people, facilities, and accumulated knowledge that underpin current testing programmes? This question is explored in a new NAM Jour

How a structured, evidence led framework can help make animal testing a last resort Regulators are reframing their position on the significance of vertebrate animal studies for acute oral toxicity assessments. Historically, these studies informed chemical hazard classification, labelling, and risk assessment. Now, these studies are increasingly expected by regulatory agencies and industry standards only when existing information, adaptations, and New Approach Methodologies

On 1 September 2026, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a new voluntary data submission pilot for New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) creating a structured mechanism for companies, contract research organisations, technology and method developers and academic laboratories to submit NAM-generated data and receive feedback outside a marketing authorisation application. NAM developers and regulators now have an opportunity to examine emerging evidence together, identify

The amazing NC3Rs has launched the DRIVER recommendations, a new framework to improve the reliability and transparency of in vitro research. With in vitro models becoming increasingly advanced, the experiments using these models need to be designed properly, conducted consistently, and provide trustworthy data for these sophisticated models to be appropriately valued and maintain relevance to be used more prolifically throughout chemical safety assessment and drug discovery a

The 3rd edition of the international conference on advances in 3D cell culture (https://www.3dccsummit.com/3dccconference) held in Goa, India in February 2026 continues to give benefits to the delegates, organisers and the wider scientific community. We have now issued the Navigating the Regulatory Pathways and Policies for New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) White Paper. You can download this at https://www.3dccsummit.com. The paper summarises the "Navigating the Regulatory Pa

Roper Toxicology is pleased to announce that our Founder and Principal Consultant, Dr. Clive Roper, will be speaking at the Westminster Health Forum policy conference, Transitioning to Non-Animal Methods in Science and Regulation, on 29 June 2026. Bringing together senior representatives from government, regulatory agencies, academia, and industry, this conference will explore next steps for transitioning to non-animal methods in science in the UK, with discussion on implemen

On behalf of Clive, as a member of the AFSA Global Science Committee, we are pleased to share that the Animal-Free Safety Assessment (AFSA) Collaboration has received the 2026 Lush Prize for Major Scientific Collaboration. The award was accepted in London, UK, by Jay Ingram and Giorgia Pallocca, representatives from Humane World for Animals, on behalf of all AFSA partner organizations. Presented annually, the Lush Prize celebrates the collective efforts of organizations and s

It is that time of year again. The Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting is less than a month away. I will be involved in the SOT program this year, contributing to scientific posters, moderating sessions, participating in specialty section events, and engaging in discussions advancing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). Here is a look at my upcoming participation in the 2026 SOT Meeting Presenting Author Poster March 23 Title: Self-assembling Peptide Hydrogels as U

The International Conference on Advances in 3D Cell Culture aka 3DCC ( https://www.3dccsummit.com ) held in South Goa, India last week was an engaging meeting with a very high standard of science and discussions. The organisation of the conference was immaculately run by the team from ICT Mumbai, and the Mumbai Biocluster led by Prajakta Dandekar Jain and Ratnesh Jain. I enjoyed the candle lighting opening ceremony followed by the Indian National Anthem which was sung with gr

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) have been used in drug development for decades. Despite their widespread use and clear advantages for improving human health and reducing animal experimentation, NAMs have faced significant headwinds for use in regulatory submissions. Recent guidelines, public announcements, and policy changes have demonstrated that global regulators, led by the US FDA, are ready to change that dynamic. The most powerful example of this change is the FDA’s IS

Based on listening and talking with a diverse range of industry colleagues, attending several conferences, reading the FDA monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) announcement and roadmap, watching the FDA/NIH workshop on the state of phasing out the use of animal testing, and the FDA’s engagement with 3Rs, the world of in vitro toxicology has been speeding up faster than I've seen before, and it is clear New Approach Methods (NAMs) are playing a more central role in predictive toxicolo

The final day of WC13 may have been a half day, but it ended on a powerful note. The closing keynote speaker, Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer,...

The 13th World Congress on Alternatives and the Use of Animals in the Life Sciences (WC13) is in full swing in Rio de Janeiro. Over the...

Reflections from the Opening Ceremony of WC13 in Rio de Janeiro The 13th World Congress on Alternatives and the Use of Animals in the...

The 13th World Congress on Alternatives and the Use of Animals in the Life Sciences (WC13) is fast approaching, taking place in Rio de...

The 13th World Congress (WC13) on Alternatives to Animal Use in Life Sciences is coming up soon, taking place August 31 – September 4,...

Traditional in vitro system s and animal models often fail to replicate the complexity of the human respiratory system accurately. As...

I had the privilege of co-authoring a paper titled “Panel discussions on the global regulatory acceptance and harmonization of non-animal...

I was honoured to be invited to the Animal Free Safety Assessment Collaboration (AFSA) Collaboration retreat last week. The objective of...