In the long term the intention is that through the work of the validation centres animal experiments should be replaced by alternative methods in safety assessments and toxicological studies.
Validation studies are highly time and cost intensive. The validation process takes roughly eight to ten years until international government acceptance. A uniform international concept exists for the conduct of validation studies: In the first place, it must be demonstrated that the alternative test method delivers reproducible results in different laboratories and over a prolonged period. Secondly, it must be shown that the test results of the alternative method are in concordance with those of the established animal experiment and that the alternative method therefore lends itself to assessment of the risk for humans and the environment.