Hangzhou, China. On October 30, 2018, the first QSAR Model Training Course hosted by REACH24H was successfully completed. The headquarters of the company welcomed professionals who came all the way from BASF, Dow, Bayer, DuPont, L’Oreal, Yunfa Chemical, Fuhua Tongda, TEDA, among others, eager to learn the particulars about this model for its increasing application at a regulatory level. This event also attracted participants from universities and research institutes such as Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Guangdong Microbiological Analysis and Testing Center, Shanghai Testing Center, Zhejiang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Nanjin  University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to level in the discussion of QSAR and its development as an essential test method.

Dr. Benfenati’s presentation

Professor Gini addressing the QSAR Training participants

The training session was led by Dr. Emilio Benfenati, Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology at the Mario Negri Institute, Milan and Professor Giuseppina Gini, Associate Professor, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Benfenati and Professor Gini have both developed an extensive research background in the QSAR model and VEGA platform, and they have been working to promote non-test methods such as QSAR. This model has been widely adopted and accepted by chemical regulatory institutions, including EU ECHA and EFSA.

REACH24H has been working with many industry and academia experts to promote the application of non-test methods for the purpose of chemical management, risk assessment and toxicity prediction. Having noted the often found difficulties faced by enterprises when applying QSAR prediction results to provide data for the assessment of chemicals, REACH24H expects this non-test approach to not only reduce costs of testing, but increase the speed and potentially minimize animal testing. On this basis, by contributing to the better understanding and the widespread and effective use of accurate QSAR models, REACH24H hopes to contribute to the expansion of non-test methods not only at a national but also regional regulatory level.