Good practice in clinical embryology laboratories: Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists Guidelines 2024.

Clinical embryology is a dynamic and ever-evolving field, and as such clinical practice guidelines must be regularly reviewed and updated. Accordingly, this document supersedes previous good clinical practice in clinical embryology guidance, developing, and updating where necessary, existing good practice guidelines. The Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists (ARCS) suggests this Good Laboratory Practice framework as appropriate and effective to ensure the best possible care for all individuals undertaking fertility treatment. Efforts have been made to ensure that the language used is inclusive and reflective of the wide range of patients who seek treatment. The guidance provided within this document aims to be relevant within an international context and to consider the range of regulatory considerations affecting clinical embryology laboratories. This guideline was written to guide best practice but is not intended as a tool to judge the practice of centres within the UK or beyond.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Points to Consider: Review of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Guidance on Pathology Peer Review in Nonclinical Toxicology Studies.

In December 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the final guidance for industry titled Pathology Peer Review in Nonclinical Toxicology Studies: Questions and Answers. The stated purpose of the FDA guidance is to provide information to sponsors, applicants, and nonclinical laboratory personnel regarding the management and conduct of histopathology peer review as part of nonclinical toxicology studies conducted in compliance with good laboratory practice (GLP) regulations. On behalf of and in collaboration with global societies of toxicologic pathology and the Society of Quality Assurance, the Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee (SRPC) of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) initiated a review of this FDA guidance. The STP has previously published multiple papers related to the scientific conduct of a pathology peer review of nonclinical toxicology studies and appropriate documentation practices. The objectives of this review are to provide an in-depth analysis and summary interpretation of the FDA recommendations and share considerations for the conduct of pathology peer review in nonclinical toxicology studies that claim compliance to GLP regulations. In general, this working group is in agreement with the recommendations from the FDA guidance that has added clear expectations for pathology peer review preparation, conduct, and documentation.

Subjective biosafety assessment of bisdemethoxycurcumin from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa.

Introduction/Background: Curcuma longa, a plant native to the Indian subcontinent has a variety of biological activities. Curcumin is the most abundant and biologically active compound with many therapeutic properties. Demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) - the two other bioactive components present in Curcuma longa, besides curcumin, are collectively termed curcuminoids. Apart from the well-known curcumin, BDMC also has been reported to possess promising biological and pharmacological effects, but very little scientific evidence on its safety assessment has been published.Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine the safety of pure BDMC from Curcuma longa extract in rodents which comprises of general toxicity (both four weeks and three months duration), reproductive/developmental toxicity and genotoxicity studies.Methods: The Good Laboratory Practice studies were carried out in accordance with the test guidelines established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Results: No treatment-related adverse findings were seen in general toxicity testing and a no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of 1000 mg/kg/day was established after four weeks (sub-acute) and three-months (sub-chronic) dosing. Evaluation of fertility, embryo-fetal, and post-natal reproductive and developmental parameters also showed no adverse findings with a NOAEL of 1000 mg/kg/day established. The results of genotoxicity as evaluated by in vitro reverse mutation assay, and in vivo micronucleus test in mice indicate that BDMC did not induce any genotoxic effects.Conclusion: Oral administration of BDMC is safe in rodents and non-mutagenic, with no adverse effects under experimental conditions.

Utilizing droplet digital polymerase chain reaction for siRNA quantitation in rodent plasma and tissue via stem-loop reverse transcription.

Background: siRNA is a promising therapeutic modality highlighted by several US FDA approvals since 2018, with many more oligonucleotide assets in clinical development. To support siRNA discovery and development, robust and sensitive quantitative platforms for bioanalysis must be established to assess pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships and toxicology. Droplet digital PCR offers improved sensitivity and throughput, as well as reduced susceptibility to matrix effects, compared with other analytical platforms. Methodology: The authors developed a stem-loop reverse transcription droplet digital PCR method to measure siRNA in mouse plasma and liver extract using bioanalytical method qualification guidelines. Conclusion: This newly developed assay has been demonstrated to be a superior alternative to other platforms, with the added benefit of greater sensitivity, with dynamic range from 390 to 400,000 copies/reaction and readiness for FDA investigational new drug-enabling applications.

Building a nonclinical pathology laboratory of the future for pharmaceutical research excellence.

We describe a roadmap for a fully digital artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented nonclinical pathology laboratory across three continents. Underpinning the design are Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-validated laboratory information management systems (LIMS), whole slide-scanners (WSS), image management systems (IMS), and a digital microscope intended for use by the nonclinical pathologist. Digital diagnostics are supported by tools that include AI-based virtual staining and deep learning-based decision support. Implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial digitized workflow largely mitigated disruption of pivotal nonclinical studies required to support pharmaceutical clinical testing. We believe that this digital transformation of our nonclinical pathology laboratories will promote efficiency and innovation in the future and enhance the quality and speed of drug development decision making.

Development and validation of a model gene therapy biodistribution assay for AVGN7 using digital droplet polymerase chain reaction.

Biodistribution assays are integral to gene therapy commercialization and have traditionally used real-time qPCR. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), however, has distinct advantages including higher sensitivity and absolute quantification but is underused because of lacking regulatory guidance and meaningful examples in the literature. We report a fit-for-purpose model process to validate a good laboratory practice (GLP)-compliant ddPCR assay for AVGN7, a Smad7 gene therapeutic for muscle wasting. Duplexed primer/probe sets for Smad7 and mouse TATA-box binding protein were optimized using gBlock DNA over a dynamic range of 10-80,000 copies/reaction in 250 ng mouse gDNA. Linearized plasmid and mouse gDNA were used for validation, which determined precision, accuracy, ruggedness/robustness, selectivity, recovery, specificity, dilution linearity, and stability. Inter-run precision and accuracy met previously established criteria with bias between -5% and 15%, coefficient of variation (CV) less than 19%, and total error within 8%-35%. The limit of detection was 2.5 copies/reaction, linearity was confirmed at 40-80,000 copies/reaction, specificity was demonstrated by single droplet populations and assay stability was demonstrated for benchtop, refrigerated storage, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. The procedural road map provided exceeds recently established standards. It is also relevant to many IND-enabling processes, as validated ddPCR assays can be used in biodistribution studies and with vector titering and manufacturing quality control.

"Statistical significance" and other important considerations in genotoxicity safety testing.

Toxicity assays, including genotoxicity assays, are important components of human safety assessments. The interpretation of the results of such assays depends on several factors, including validation of test performance, statistical analysis of the results, and, most importantly, scientific judgment concerning the relevance of the findings to human health risk under anticipated exposure conditions. Ideally, decisions should be made on the basis of studies that allow consideration of the exposure-response relationship of any observed genotoxic outcome and an estimate of the risks associated with expected human exposures. However, in practice, the available data are often limited; it may be necessary to make judgements on the basis of assays that provide only hazard information that is not related to human exposure levels; also, sometimes, decisions are based on studies with non-human (or even non-mammalian) cells that may respond differently than human systems. Too often, in such situations, decisions are based only on whether "statistical significance" has been achieved in a particular assay, rather than on an overall judgement about the weight of scientific evidence with regard to human risk. Among regulators and toxicologists, the concept of "statistical significance" has played an important role in decision-making. Toxicologists often rely on statistical evaluations based on nominal fixed thresholds (P-value = 0.05 or 0.01), but these are arbitrary values. Such "statistical significance" is merely one of many factors that should be taken into account before drawing final conclusions for risk assessment. Other factors are also very important, including adherence to test guidelines and Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs).

Optimizing a therapeutic humanized follicle-stimulating hormone-blocking antibody formulation by protein thermal shift assay.

Biopharmaceutical products are formulated using several Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved excipients within the inactive ingredient limit to maintain their storage stability and shelf life. Here, we have screened and optimized different sets of excipient combinations to yield a thermally stable formulation for the humanized follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-blocking antibody, MS-Hu6. We used a protein thermal shift assay in which rising temperatures resulted in the maximal unfolding of the protein at the melting temperature (Tm ). To determine the buffer and pH for a stable solution, four different buffers with a pH range from 3 to 8 were screened. This resulted in maximal Tm s at pH 5.62 for Fab in phosphate buffer and at pH 6.85 for Fc in histidine buffer. Upon testing a range of salt concentrations, MS-Hu6 was found to be more stable at lower concentrations, likely due to reduced hydrophobic effects. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed a higher root-mean-square deviation with 1 mM than with 100 mM salt, indicating enhanced stability, as noted experimentally. Among the stabilizers tested, Tween 20 was found to yield the highest Tm and reversed the salt effect. Among several polyols/sugars, trehalose and sucrose were found to produce higher thermal stabilities. Finally, binding of recombinant human FSH to MS-Hu6 in a final formulation (20 mM phosphate buffer, 1 mM NaCl, 0.001% w/v Tween 20, and 260 mM trehalose) resulted in a thermal shift (increase in Tm ) for the Fab, but expectedly not in the Fc domain. Given that we used a low dose of MS-Hu6 (1 µM), the next challenge would be to determine whether 100-fold higher, industry-standard concentrations are equally stable.

Safety evaluation of dried L-tryptophan fermentation product in Sprague-Dawley rats.

The subchronic toxicity of oral L-tryptophan produced by fermentation with metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum was evaluated in Sprague-Dawley rats. Doses of 0, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg/day were administered to groups of 10 male and 10 female rats for 90 days. For the groups administered 0 and 2000 mg/kg/day, an additional 5 male and 5 female rats were tested as a recovery group. No adverse effects associated with the test substance were observed in all rats during the 90-day administration of the product, irrespective of dose, and at 4 weeks of recovery at dosages of 0 and 2000 mg/kg/day. Furthermore, histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses for L-tryptophan-associated eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) did not reveal significant changes in both sexes of groups administered 0 or 2000 mg/kg/day. Based on these results, it could be concluded that there were no significant adverse effects related to the test substance in all animals; therefore, dried L-tryptophan fermentation product can be used as feed additive material.

Single and repeated dose (28 days) intravenous toxicity assessment of bartogenic acid (an active pentacyclic triterpenoid) isolated from Barringtonia racemosa (L.) fruits in mice.

Bartogenic acid (BA), an active pentacyclic triterpenoid, has been reported for anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-cancer, and anti-tumor activity. However, toxicity profiling of BA has not been reported till date. Hence, this study is designed to evaluate the single dose (12.5, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) and repeated dose (1.5, 6, and 24 mg/kg) intravenous toxicity of BA in BALB/c mice. Control group received vehicle. In single dose toxicity study, two mortalities were observed at 100 mg/kg of BA whereas lower doses were well tolerated. In repeated dose toxicity study, no mortality was observed. 1.5 mg/kg of BA was well tolerated in mice of both sexes. At 6 mg/kg of BA, female mice showed significant reduction in the body weight as compared to the control group however no significant change was observed in male mice. 24 mg/kg of BA showed significant reduction in the body weight in mice of both sexes. Further, these mice showed significant change in the relative organ weight. However, no toxicologically relevant changes were observed in hematology, biochemistry, and histopathology. Based on the findings, No-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level (NOAEL) for BA were found to be<24 mg/kg for male mice and<6 mg/kg for female mice.

VECTRON™ T500, a new broflanilide insecticide for indoor residual spraying, provides prolonged control of pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors.

BACKGROUND: Broflanilide is a newly discovered insecticide with a novel mode of action targeting insect γ-aminobutyric acid receptors. The efficacy of VECTRON™ T500, a wettable powder formulation of broflanilide, was assessed for IRS against wild pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors in experimental huts in Benin. METHODS: VECTRON™ T500 was evaluated at 100 mg/m2 in mud and cement-walled experimental huts against wild pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) in Covè, southern Benin, over 18 months. A direct comparison was made with Actellic® 300CS, a WHO-recommended micro-encapsulated formulation of pirimiphos-methyl, applied at 1000 mg/m2. The vector population at Covè was investigated for susceptibility to broflanilide and other classes of insecticides used for vector control. Monthly wall cone bioassays were performed to assess the residual efficacy of VECTRON™ T500 using insecticide susceptible An. gambiae Kisumu and pyrethroid-resistant An. gambiae s.l. Covè strains. The study complied with OECD principles of good laboratory practice. RESULTS: The vector population at Covè was resistant to pyrethroids and organochlorines but susceptible to broflanilide and pirimiphos-methyl. A total of 23,171 free-flying wild pyrethroid-resistant female An. gambiae s.l. were collected in the experimental huts over 12 months. VECTRON™ T500 induced 56%-60% mortality in wild vector mosquitoes in both cement and mud-walled huts. Mortality with VECTRON™ T500 was 62%-73% in the first three months and remained > 50% for 9 months on both substrate-types. By comparison, mortality with Actellic® 300CS was very high in the first three months (72%-95%) but declined sharply to < 40% after 4 months. Using a non-inferiority margin defined by the World Health Organization, overall mortality achieved with VECTRON™ T500 was non-inferior to that observed in huts treated with Actellic® 300CS with both cement and mud wall substrates. Monthly in situ wall cone bioassay mortality with VECTRON™ T500 also remained over 80% for 18 months but dropped below 80% with Actellic® 300CS at 6-7 months post spraying. CONCLUSION: VECTRON™ T500 shows potential to provide substantial and prolonged control of malaria transmitted by pyrethroid-resistant mosquito vectors when applied for IRS. Its addition to the current list of WHO-approved IRS insecticides will provide a suitable option to facilitate rotation of IRS products with different modes of action.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Best Practices: Recommended ("Best") Practices for Informed (Non-blinded) Versus Masked (Blinded) Microscopic Evaluation in Animal Toxicity Studies.

This article describes the Society of Toxicologic Pathology's (STP) five recommended ("best") practices for appropriate use of informed (non-blinded) versus masked (blinded) microscopic evaluation in animal toxicity studies intended for regulatory review. (1) Informed microscopic evaluation is the default approach for animal toxicity studies. (2) Masked microscopic evaluation has merit for confirming preliminary diagnoses for target organs and/or defining thresholds ("no observed adverse effect level" and similar values) identified during an initial informed evaluation, addressing focused hypotheses, or satisfying guidance or requests from regulatory agencies. (3) If used as the approach for an animal toxicity study to investigate a specific research question, masking of the initial microscopic evaluation should be limited to withholding only information about the group (control or test article-treated) and dose equivalents. (4) The decision regarding whether or not to perform a masked microscopic evaluation is best made by a toxicologic pathologist with relevant experience. (5) Pathology peer review, performed to verify the microscopic diagnoses and interpretations by the study pathologist, should use an informed evaluation approach. The STP maintains that implementing these five best practices has and will continue to consistently deliver robust microscopic data with high sensitivity for animal toxicity studies intended for regulatory review. Consequently, when conducting animal toxicity studies, the advantages of informed microscopic evaluation for maximizing sensitivity outweigh the perceived advantages of minimizing bias through masked microscopic examination.

ESHRE certification of ART centres for good laboratory and clinical practice.

STUDY QUESTION: Three years after the start of the ESHRE ART Centre Certification (ARTCC) programme, what is the current state of the system, in terms of the interest expressed in it and experiences during the assessment of ART services? SUMMARY ANSWER: As of 1 December 2021, 25 European ART centres have been involved in the various stages of certification and the most common recommendations from inspectors were the need for documented training, verification of competencies for all staff members, verification of laboratory and clinical performance indicators, implementation of a quality management system and avoidance of overusing ICSI and add-ons. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: European Union (EU) legislation has included ART activities in the EU Tissue and Cells Directives (EUTCDs). Following inspections by national EUTCD authorities, many details regarding documentation, laboratory environment, handling of reproductive cells and tissues, traceability, coding and patient testing have become standardized. However, the EUTCDs do not cover all ART-specific aspects. For this reason, the ARTCC was established to focus on peculiar areas, including relevant staff qualifications, training, continuing professional development, workload, equipment suitability, (non)-evidence-based laboratory and clinical methods used, treatment approaches according to ESHRE guidelines, recommendations and laboratory and clinical key performance indicators. STUDY DESIGN SIZE DURATION: The article reviews the state-of-the-art of the ESHRE certification of ART centres for good clinical and laboratory practice over an initial 3-year period of operation, including the number of ART centres involved in the different stages of certification and the most common recommendations by inspectors. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS SETTING METHODS: In 2016, the ARTCC working group began to establish a new ESHRE ARTCC programme. Since then, the working group has organized 4 preparatory courses and appointed 37 inspectors (19 clinicians, 17 embryologists and one paramedical). A tool to verify compliance with ESHRE recommendations for good laboratory and clinical practice was developed. The ARTCC has been open for applications since September 2018. In Step 1, the applicant enters basic information about the ART centre, staff and ART activities into the application platform. After review and approval, the applicant is given the opportunity to enter Step 2 and provide detailed online checklists on general, laboratory, clinical services and clinical outcomes. Two inspectors (one clinician and one embryologist) independently evaluate the submitted checklists. The condition to proceed to evaluation is a positive mean score (at least 66%) from each of the four checklists. In Step 3, a live site visit (or virtual owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic) is organized and the inspectors prepare a final report with appropriate recommendations. The application may be rejected at any time if the criteria required to advance to the next stage are not met. The ARTCC programme is currently available for European countries listed in ESHRE internal rules, available on the ESHRE website. The certificate is valid for 3 years, after which an application for renewal can be submitted. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Over a 3-year period (until 1 December 2021), 63 ART centres from 25 countries started applying through an online platform. So far, 38 applications did not progress owing to lack of completion of the initial application within a 1-year period or because applications came from non-European countries. Of the remaining 25 applications, 8 centres have been inspected and 7 centres have been certified. The most common recommendations given by inspectors to assessed centres were the need for documented training, verification of competencies, skills and continuing professional development for all staff members, verification of laboratory and clinical performance indicators and implementation of a quality management system. The inspectors identified some recurring areas of medically assisted reproduction that deviate from good practice: the overuse of ICSI, preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies, freeze-all and other add-ons. They often reported that the clinical outcomes could not be objectively assessed because of non-inclusion of the started cycles or the frequent use of freeze-all cycles. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: No major modifications have been made to the application platform and checklists since the early stages of the certification programme. However, in this short time, quite a few changes in clinical practice have occurred, especially concerning the more frequent use of the 'freeze-all' strategy. As a result, problems arose in the evaluation of clinical outcomes. In addition, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, site visits were substituted by the implementation of virtual visits. While this enabled the certification programme to continue, it is possible that certain critical details that would have been noticed during a traditional site visit may have been overlooked. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Regular monitoring of the observations of ARTCC inspectors and analysis of their reports is certainly useful to harmonize inspectors' criteria in the assessment process and to identify chronic deficiencies in clinical and laboratory practice. Non-conformities can be addressed by ESHRE through guidelines and recommendations, as well as through discussion with EU institutions and competent authorities. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: The ARTCC programme was developed and funded by ESHRE, covering expenses associated with the meetings. The Steering Committee members who are the authors of this article did not receive payments for the completion of this study. The inspectors were remunerated for their work with an honorarium. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Tumorigenicity Assessment of Human Cancer Cell Lines Xenografted on Immunodeficient Mice as Positive Controls of Tumorigenicity Testing.

Recent advances in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived cell therapies and genome editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 make regenerative medicines promising for curing diseases previously thought to be incurable. However, the possibility of off-target effects during genome editing and the nature of hPSCs, which can differentiate into any cell type and infinitely proliferate, inevitably raises concerns about tumorigenicity. Tumorigenicity acts as a major obstacle to the application of hPSC-derived and gene therapy products in clinical practice. Thus, regulatory authorities demand mandatory tumorigenicity testing as a key pre-clinical safety step for the products. In the tumorigenicity testing, regulatory guidelines request to include human cancer cell line injected positive control group (PC) animals, which must form tumors. As the validity of the whole test is determined by the tumor-forming rates (typically above 90%) of PC animals, establishing the stable tumorigenic condition of PC animals is critical for successful testing. We conducted several studies to establish the proper positive control conditions, including dose, administration routes, and the selection of cell lines, in compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations and/or guidelines, which are essential for pre-clinical safety tests of therapeutic materials. We expect that our findings provide insights and practical information to create a successful tumorigenicity test and its guidelines.

Preclinical Development of a Therapy for Chronic Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Rats Using Human Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: Proof of Concept and Regulatory Compliance.

(1) Background: the use of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) in emerging therapies for spinal cord injury (SCI) hold the potential to improve functional recovery. However, the development of cell-based medicines is challenging and preclinical studies addressing quality, safety and efficacy must be conducted prior to clinical testing; (2) Methods: herein we present (i) the characterization of the quality attributes of MSC from the Wharton's jelly (WJ) of the umbilical cord, (ii) safety of intrathecal infusion in a 3-month subchronic toxicity assessment study, and (iii) efficacy in a rat SCI model by controlled impaction (100 kdynes) after single (day 7 post-injury) and repeated dose of 1 × 106 MSC,WJ (days 7 and 14 post-injury) with 70-day monitoring by electrophysiological testing, motor function assessment and histology evaluation; (3) Results: no toxicity associated to MSC,WJ infusion was observed. Regarding efficacy, recovery of locomotion was promoted at early time points. Persistence of MSC,WJ was detected early after administration (day 2 post-injection) but not at days 14 and 63 post-injection. (4) Conclusions: the safety profile and signs of efficacy substantiate the suitability of the presented data for inclusion in the Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier for further consideration by the competent Regulatory Authority to proceed with clinical trials.

Compliance in Non-Clinical Development of Cell-, Gene-, and Tissue-Based Medicines: Good Practice for Better Therapies.

The development of cell-, gene- and tissue engineering (CGT)-based therapies must adhere to strict pharmaceutical quality management standards, as for any other biological or small-molecule drug. However, early developments often failed to fully comply with good laboratory practices (GLP) in non-clinical safety studies. Despite an upward trend of positive opinions in marketing authorization applications, evidence of adherence to the principles of GLP is not openly reported; therefore, their relative impact on the overall quality of the product development program is unknown. Herein we investigated the actual degree of GLP implementation and the underlying factors impeding full compliance in non-clinical developments of CGT-based marketed medicines in the EU and USA, including (i) the co-existence of diverse quality management systems of more strategic value for small organizations, particularly current Good Manufacturing Practices n(GMP); (ii) lack of regulatory pressure to pursue GLP certification; and (iii) the involvement of public institutions lacking a pharmaceutical mindset and resources. As a final reflection, we propose conformity to good research practice criteria not as a doctrinaire impediment to scientific work, but as a facilitator of efficient clinical translation of more effective and safer innovative therapies.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Points to Consider: Primary Digital Histopathology Evaluation and Peer Review for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Nonclinical Toxicology Studies.

The Society of Toxicologic Pathology's Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee formed a working group to consider the present and future use of digital pathology in toxicologic pathology in general and specifically its use in primary evaluation and peer review in Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) environments. Digital histopathology systems can save costs by reducing travel, enhancing organizational flexibility, decreasing slide handling, improving collaboration, increasing access to historical images, and improving quality and efficiency through integration with laboratory information management systems. However, the resources to implement and operate a digital pathology system can be significant. Given the magnitude and risks involved in the decision to adopt digital histopathology, this working group used pertinent previously published survey results and its members' expertise to create a Points-to-Consider article to assist organizations with building and implementing digital pathology workflows. With the aim of providing a comprehensive perspective, the current publication summarizes aspects of digital whole-slide imaging relevant to nonclinical histopathology evaluations, and then presents points to consider applicable to both primary digital histopathology evaluation and digital peer review in GLP toxicology studies. The Supplemental Appendices provide additional tabulated resources.

Implementing OECD GLP principles for the evaluation of novel vector control tools: a case study with two novel LLINs, SafeNet® and SafeNet NF®.

BACKGROUND: To sustain high universal Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) coverage, affordable nets that provide equivalent or better protection than standard LLINs, are required. Test facilities evaluating new LLINs require compliance to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards to ensure the quality and integrity of test data. Following GLP principles allows for the reconstruction of activities during the conduct of a study and minimizes duplication of efficacy testing. This case study evaluated the efficacy of two LLINs: SafeNet NF® and SafeNet® LLIN. METHODS: The study was conducted according to GLP principles and followed World Health Organization guidelines for evaluating LLINs. The LLINs were assessed in experimental huts against wild, pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes. Nets were either unwashed or washed 20 times and artificially holed to simulate a used torn net. Blood-feeding inhibition and mortality were compared with a positive control (Interceptor® LLIN) and an untreated net. RESULTS: Mosquito entry in the huts was reduced compared to negative control for the unwashed SafeNet NF, washed Safenet LLIN and the positive control arms. Similar exiting rates were found for all the treatment arms. Significant blood-feeding inhibition was only found for the positive control, both when washed and unwashed. All insecticide treatments induced significantly higher mortality compared to an untreated net. Compared to the positive control, the washed and unwashed SafeNet NF® resulted in similar mortality. For the SafeNet® LLINs the unwashed net had an equivalent performance, but the mortality for the washed net was significantly lower than the positive control. Internal audits of the study confirmed that all critical phases complied with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the study plan. The external audit confirmed that the study complied with GLP standards. CONCLUSIONS: SafeNet NF® and SafeNet® LLIN offered equivalent protection to the positive control (Interceptor® LLIN). However, further research is needed to investigate the durability, acceptability, and residual efficacy of these nets in the community. This study demonstrated that GLP-compliant evaluation of LLINs can be successfully conducted by African research institutions.