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10 years' Centre for Documentation and Evaluation of Alternatives to Animal Experiments (ZEBET) in BgVV

09/1999, 09.06.1999

Joint press release of the Federal Ministry of Health and BgVV

The Federal Minister of Health, Andrea Fischer, presents animal protection research prize at international symposium

On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the Centre for Documentation and Evaluation of Alternatives to Animal Experiments (ZEBET), the international symposium (ZEBET's 10 Year Anniversary) with the focus on alternatives to animal experiments was staged in the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine, BgVV, from 21 to 22 June 1999.

Scientific symposia on animal protection issues were already staged during the British EU Council Presidency and the Austrian Council Presidency in 1998. The symposium "ZEBET's 10 Year Anniversary" continues these activities within the framework of the current German EU Council Presidency.

At the symposium the Federal Minister of Health, Andrea Fischer, presented this year's animal protection research prize to Dr. Dorothea Siegel-Axel from the University of Tübingen. "I very much hope that this prize will encourage other scientists to do research into alternative methods for the reduction of animal experiments. As long as we cannot do without animal experiments, because we need them in order to protect human health, that's how long we will have the ethical obligation to search for alternative test methods with pain-free material," stressed the Minister.

Dr. Siegel-Axel was awarded the prize for developing a cell culture test system with human vessel wall cells to test medicines to be used in the treatment of vascular diseases. Thanks to this test system specific animal experiments in the field of medical product testing are no longer necessary.

The 10^th anniversary of ZEBET prompted BgVV to review the work done within the framework of national and international co-operation. Co-operation partners from Germany and abroad presented their work. The focus was on BgVV's involvement in validation projects, the promotion of research on the development of alternative methods and databases and information services about alternatives to animal experiments.

On its establishment in 1989 ZEBET was the first state institution commissioned to reduce animal experiments on a scientific basis. Priority was given in this context to the replacement of statutory stressful animal experiments because results obtained with methods involving no animal experiments would only be recognised if the new methods, after examination of reproducibility, have produced the same results under routine conditions in several laboratories. This examination involving international interlaboratory tests is called validation.

In 1993 ECVAM (European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods) was set up by the EU with the same goal as ZEBET in the EU Research Centre in Ispra (Italy) and in 1997 in the USA ICCVAM (Interagency Coordination Committee for the Validation of Alternative Methods) of the US federal authorities. In other countries private institutions, which are financed from foundation funds or donations from industry, have the same goals. As a consequence of the globalisation of research and industry, replacement of the much criticised, statutory safety toxicology animal tests is only possible if there is close international co-operation.

The lion's share of animal experiments was conducted in the past in research into medicinal products. Given the progress in the field of biotechnology and molecular biology, the number of animal experiments has fallen dramatically in the last 10 years. In Germany the numbers of experimental animals in the medicinal product sector fell from 4.3 million in 1977 to 0.7 million in 1997 and the total number of experimental animals fell from 2.5 million in 1989 to 1.6 million in 1997. This development corresponds to the overall development in the EU.

One focus of the activities of ZEBET is laid down in the 6th amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive which envisages the abandonment of animal experiments for cosmetics after 30 June 2000. In close co-operation with ECVAM and COLIPA, the European Association of Cosmetics Manufacturers, ZEBET has been involved in or co-ordinated international validation projects. The goal of these activities is to replace local tolerance tests on the skin and mucous membrane which are of importance for the safety toxicology assessment of cosmetics with test methods which do not involve animal experiments that have been validated in experiments. The cell test for testing for the phototoxic properties and methods for the identification of highly skin and eye irritant substances (replacement of the Draize Test in rabbits) developed by ZEBET is now internationally accepted and established in laboratories in industry.

At BgVV a method was also validated to replace the LD₅₀ method for acute toxicity testing, the ATC (Acute Toxic Class) Method which is used around the world today as a substitute for the LD₅₀ test. Finally, at ZEBET a test was developed for testing for embryotoxic effects which uses the embryonal stem cells of the mouse and renders superfluous the use of gestating animals. This test together, with other in vitro embryotoxicity tests, is being validated in an interlaboratory study financed by the EU in Europe.

Given their success, staff members of ZEBET are active in bodies in Europe and the USA which promote the replacement of animal experiments. They are also sought after co-operation partners.

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