, 2012 and Scott et al., 2010). The commercial aims of in vitro testing are to be faster and cheaper, although currently, the costs are roughly on par Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor with Draize testing. It is preferable that the testing procedures can be performed without the need for specialist training or expensive equipment ( Dholakiya and Barile,

2013). From a corporate standpoint in vitro tests require the same level of investment as they are currently making using in vivo tests, so they either don’t care, or fail to see the benefits in switching. A large factor that affects the decision making of corporate companies is that they are selling to a local market, not just countries within the EU. For developing or newly industrialized countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the underlying challenge is getting them to understand the roles of in vitro tests, which is a continuing educational challenge. In order to overcome these issues, a re-evaluation of currently used find more in vitro tests may be required ( Nóbrega et al., 2012). In vitro assays and models provide useful data that complement in vivo studies allowing for significant reductions in the numbers of animals used. In order realize this, it must be ensured that clear endpoints correlate

between in vivo and in vitro tests ( Maurer et al., 2002). In general, in vitro tests are validated against the Draize test ( Lenoir et al., 2011), with few actually investigating their predictability compared to humans. Despite the lack of formal validation, in vitro tests still are commonly used by industry. For example, industrial toxicologists often use in vitro protocols for prioritizing products and ingredients for further development ( Curren and Harbell, 2002).

However, use of the Draize test is still permitted worldwide, with the exception of the cosmetics section within Europe. Although in vitro alternatives tests are available, whether they are actually being used in practice is questionable. Every country has its own regulations and data requirements. The EU may be consolidated, but everywhere else is not and regulations have to be negotiated one by one – this is a very slow process, with STK38 no one country worse than the other. Regulations are aimed at protecting humans, and regulators focus on this, the culture of animal welfare is different in every country. In silico models are computer generated models that can play a useful role in predicting the ocular toxicity of a substance. In silico models utilize repositories of existing in vitro and in vivo toxicology data to predict the toxicity of samples. Quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR) are used to quantify the relationship between a sample’s chemical structure and the biological effects that result from the same chemical ( Simon-Hettich et al., 2006).