The new funds come on top of the €50 million programme that the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe have jointly invested in SEURAT-1 under the 7th Framework Programme, and is also over and above the €12 million committed by the European cosmetic industry in 1997.

The Cosmetics Europe Alternatives to Animal Testing (AAT) extended programme will focus on:

• Pre-validation of "promising" toolbox test methods for Skin Sensitization and data integration activities

• Finalising development and conduct pre-validation of the already developed 3D-model for genotoxicity, and promote regulatory acceptance in this field

• Refinement of eye irritation assays to address last remaining gaps

At the opening of the conference, Cosmetics Europe Director-General, Bertil Heerink, said: "We need to extend this research programme to take full benefit of all the efforts made in previous years. We want the Cosmetics Europe programme to maintain momentum. This industry continues to be totally committed to replacing alternative methods as soon as scientifically possible and therefore we continue to invest in research. The acknowledgement of our industry’s efforts helps us to continue our research on such a large scale."

Heerink added: "It is important that all AAT research, including SEURAT-1, is considered in the framework of creating a longer-term roadmap to ensure that all European research efforts are united – and research investments optimised – in order to achieve workable solutions to replace animal testing as soon as possible."

The annual SEURAT conference gathers leading scientists researching human safety assessments in the field of repeated dose systemic toxicity testing of chemicals.

Speaking at the conference, Dr Rob Taalman, Director of Research and Project Management said: "The scientific consensus is that the development of non-animal alternative methods represents a considerable challenge. The cosmetics industry has been working hard for many years to meet this challenge as fast as possible. Nevertheless, the development, validation and acceptance of alternative methods by regulatory bodies can only be considered as a long-term effort."