The First Advances of This Major Initiative!
Since December 2024 and for a duration of 30 months, Lyonbiopole is proud to participate in the European project NAMWISE, a large-scale initiative bringing together 18 partners from 8 European countries. Coordinated by the National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks (INERIS), this project aims to promote the adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAM) for the regulatory evaluation of chemical and pharmaceutical products.
NAMs encompass various methods and technologies (2D and 3D cell cultures, organs-on-a-chip, computational models…) used alone or in combination, which can serve as alternatives to animal models for regulatory testing of chemical and pharmaceutical products.
NAMWISE will produce a body of knowledge and expertise, recommendation booklets, and educational resources on how to validate, integrate, and effectively use NAMs for the safety and efficacy evaluation of chemical and pharmaceutical products. NAMWISE is a project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program dedicated to research and innovation.
Since its Launch
On February 4 and 5, the project partners gathered in Chantilly (France) for the official launch of the NAMWISE project. This meeting provided an opportunity for the partners to meet in person, begin working on the project’s initial actions, and engage in constructive exchanges with the European Commission and other European initiatives in the field of NAMs.
©NAMWISE – Project Kick-off
In the first weeks, a strong and concerted communication strategy was deployed by the NAMWISE partners to ensure effective and appropriate dissemination of messages to the project’s various audiences. This coordination will enable a significant impact within the NAM ecosystem and mobilize all key stakeholders for their adoption in regulatory processes.
Thus, the partners have already presented the NAMWISE project at several major industry events:
>At the AF-CSA conference “Animal-Free Chemical Safety Assessment” held in Brussels from March 4 to 6,
>During the lunch discussion at the European Parliament organized by the PrecisionTox initiative on March 21,
>To the French partners of PARC – the European Partnership for Risk Assessment of Chemical Substances (March 24),
> Upcoming: at the “Organoids and Organs-on-a-Chip” Workshop (April 3).
These past and upcoming meetings aim to strengthen dialogue with policymakers, regulatory actors, researchers, and industry professionals to foster the integration of NAMs into regulatory pathways for chemical and pharmaceutical products.
Lyonbiopole’s Commitment
NAMWISE embodies values dear to Lyonbiopole: innovation, international collaboration, and commitment to more responsible science. Alongside INERIS and the 16 other European partners, Lyonbiopole is fully engaged in this endeavor, convinced that NAMs can, in the near future, contribute to more competitive industrial practices and more ethical regulatory processes.
© Pierre-Alain Mounier VISUELS ET PHOTOS
“As a competitiveness cluster dedicated to health, Lyonbiopole plays an important role in the NAMWISE project. Our team is actively involved in several key areas. On the one hand, we will coordinate various consultation actions (interviews, meetings, workshops) involving NAM stakeholders, particularly developers and users from the pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, we are already making a significant contribution to communication and dissemination of the project’s actions and future results (recommendations, guidelines, training modules), in order to maximize its impact in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in France, and at the European level.”
Emilien VOLDOIRE – European Affairs Manager, Lyonbiopole
Our Consortium Brings Together a Variety of European Actors:
>Research and Technology Organizations: INERIS (France), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain), AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (Austria), INSERM (France).
>Innovative SMEs: Institute of Evidence-Based Toxicology (Germany), aQuaTox-Solutions (Switzerland), Altertox (Belgium), CEHTRA SAS (France), Watchfrog (France), Netri (France).
>Associations: Lyonbiopole (France), Axelera (France), BioRegio STERN (Germany), Pepper (France).
>Large Industrial Groups: Sanofi-Aventis Groupe (France), Charles River Laboratories Den Bosch BV (Netherlands). Government Organizations: UBA GmbH (Austria). >University: University of Birmingham (United Kingdom).
The first NAMWISE project newsletter will be released in May. Would you like to receive it? Let us know.
✉️ contact@namwise.org
