Additionally, the perception, or weight, of the information from in vitro assays should be correctly assessed and communicated between the researchers and regulators. Care must be taken not to be “overly-efficient”! For one company, due to efficient in-house de-selection of test compounds, there were no positive genotoxic compounds in in vivo studies. Since there are false positive results from single and combined in vitro genotoxicity assays, de-selection of all positive responses in these assays may prevent the development of promising non-genotoxic compounds. Negative outcomes in in vitro genotoxicity assays (which exhibit high sensitivities) are accepted by regulatory agencies; however, this

is not the case for other endpoints

such as skin irritation. One Colipa (European Cosmetic Toiletry and selleck chemicals llc Perfumery Association) GSK1120212 nmr project in progress is to refine current assays to avoid generation of false positives (project entitled “Reduction in the “false positive” rate of in vitro mammalian cell genotoxicity assays”, co-sponsored by Colipa, ECVAM and UK NC3Rs); likewise, the FDA is striving for highly predictive systems to avoid false positives. Known toxic and adverse effects should also be defined for the kidney, heart, lung, CNS, immune system, adrenal and thyroid glands (endocrine disruptors). Information on known substances developed by the pharmaceutical and, if possible, other industries should be collected. This will help develop QSAR models and new assays (including many active transport, signalling). Workshop participants suggested two actions which may aid the interpretation of data generated fromin vitroassays, such as: • Integration

of information from different models: Integration of data from separate organ in vitro assays may provide a better overview of toxicity. For example, the contribution of gut bacteria may be incorporated into an absorption model to allow the prediction whether a compound is (re)absorbed from the intestine as parent or metabolite followed by possible further metabolism by another organ. A number of QSAR models exist (shown in Table 2) which can be used to prioritize chemicals and compare large numbers of chemicals using standardized criteria. Other mathematical models based on ADME properties are referred to as physiologically-based biokinetic (PBBK) models and are synonymous with physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models and physiologically-based TK (PBTK) models. The prediction of in vivo PK parameters such absorption, first pass effects and metabolism has been successfully demonstrated using the SimCyp PBPK model, which is a population-based simulator using physicochemical, in vitro and in silico data (www.simcyp.com). In addition to PK prediction models, mathematical ADME models have been developed to assess TK properties (the effect of the chemical on the body) to address the 3R agenda ( Bouvier d’Yvoire et al., 2007).