Scientist Mathieu Vinken coordinates prestigious European research into animal-free methods for testing chemical substances

Mathieu Vinken, pharmacist-toxicologist affiliated with the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences of the VUB, will be responsible for the general coordination of the "ONTOX? project for a period of 5 years from 1 May 2021 onwards. The "ONTOX? project, supported by a European grant of more than 17 million Euros, is looking with 18 European and American partners for innovative methods to evaluate the safety of chemical substances without using laboratory animals. Before chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, food additives, cosmetic ingredients and pesticides, can be placed onto the market, they must first undergo rigorous testing to ensure their safety. Traditionally, this is done on the basis of protocols that have been laid down in a regulatory manner and that often rely on the use of large numbers of laboratory animals. This approach is increasingly criticized from an ethical point of view. In addition, this approach assumes that results obtained in animal studies are relevant to humans. However, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, it has now become clear that up to half of the animal experiments are insignificant for humans due to so-called interspecies differences between humans and animals.