Article | News | Feb 20, 2017

      PMI and BAT receive PETA award for their contributions to a public knowledge base

      BAT and PMI contributed to the AOP knowledge base by adding the potential impact of substances on the circulatory system and on the respiratory system, which are areas of intensive research for the two companies. By sharing this information, they significantly contributed to advancement of toxicology in general and made steps towards replacing animal testing for toxicology, an effort that was recognized by PETA International Science Consortium in 2016.

      The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) online encyclopedia contains vast amounts of molecular mechanisms through which chemicals can affect human health. It is available to the public and is especially valuable to researchers who require more in-depth scientific knowledge in this area.

      The AOP was jointly created by the European Commission’s DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in order to provide a framework for toxicological strategies. The framework aims at constructing this knowledge base for scientists and regulators for predicting adverse effects of chemicals without using animal testing in the laboratory. It is remarkable that academic partners and companies share their knowledge and make it publicly available. With an increase in collaborative efforts of this kind and the sharing of information, the future bodes well for progressive scientific research.

      For further media coverage of this award-winning collaboration: