Contributions to the Development of Alternatives in Toxicology in China and Brazil

Abstract China and Brazil are two of the largest international economies now attempting to incorporate non-animal, in vitro , testing methods into their regulatory systems. While Brazil has a government mandate to replace certain animal tests with alternative methods in a stated time-frame, China has no such requirement, but is none-the-less pursuing a similar goal. China lacks the internal infrastructure to provide in vitro testing and easy access to validated human tissue constructs, and Brazil lacks financial support to develop new alternative methods and has difficulty in commercialising human-based materials, e.g. cells and reconstructed tissues. However, both countries are embracing offers for training and other technical assistance, when needed. It is expected that formal regulatory acceptance of non-animal test results will continue and expand in both China and Brazil.