QSAR computational models' self-using platform for EC Regulation-REACH

Project Information

QSAREACH

Grant agreement ID: 828002

DOI

10.3030/828002

Project closed

EC signature date 3 August 2018

Start date 1 September 2018

End date 28 February 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

PROTOQSAR 2000 SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - QSAREACH (QSAR computational models' self-using platform for EC Regulation-REACH)

Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2019-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that “more than 25% of the global burden of human morbidity can be attributed to avoidable environmental factors such as exposure to chemicals”. Chemicals substances are presented in daily life like cosmetics, functional food or agro-industry and from May 2018 onwards is mandatory, within the EU, that chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors and marketers of quantities greater than 1 tonne per year must perform a registration, for each substance and each time, with high costs and carry out multiple tests with live animals to demonstrate the safety of these substances according to EC-REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) within its 52 categories such as carcinogenicity or mutagenicity (human toxicity) or aquatic toxicity (ecotoxicity). This implies two major and clear customer paint points: firstly, REACH implies very high costs due to the experimental and administrative work required. Secondly, REACH implies the need for a huge number of ethically questionable animal tests during several months to demonstrate the safety of chemicals under approval.
QSAREACH is the solution, a tool that replaces animal tests by QSAR computational models (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship) and represent significant savings in time, resources (easy end-user’s self-using) and money (>65% cost reduction), since the applicability of predictive models is easy and immediate.

This business need from the international chemical industry to work in Europe is our main target and market opportunity, by a three-fold innovation: the final development of a (1) novel high scalable technological platform of easy access/use to experienced and non-experienced end-users about all computational models’ prediction of toxicology and eco-toxicology of chemicals –(2) including nanomaterials (NMs)- to comply with the (3) full scope of the strict EC-REACH Regulation, where assays with animals in some specific domains, such as cosmetic, are already completely forbidden.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The financial support from the EC through the phase 1 “SME Instrument” program has allowed us to obtain an updated status of our initial business ideas. This study has opened a very broad prospective to us, and we have decided to continue our plans and prepare a phase 2 proposal.

Once done a pre-stage of technical analysis (step 1), market need (step 2) and venture assessment (step 3), in SMEi1 feasibility stage, to fit into the overall plan to reach the market, we have done the validation: i) the technical feasibility of full REACH QSARs models, nanomaterials models scope and the beta platform prototype with an implementation in two end-user/customer (step 4), ii) market study (step 5) and iii) the economic viability (step 6). The main conclusions of the development of Phase 1 of the project are:

- The platform has been tested in real environments (customers) with excellent results that ensure the technical feasibility of the program. Phase 2 of the Project must consolidate these results and allow the final development of the platform in view of the market launch.

- The potential market of the company focuses on the Pharma, Biotech, Agrochemicals and Cosmetic sectors, all of them sectors with excellent growth prospects and which represent 2,245 EUR Billion.

- The main competitors are in the USA, thus giving ProtoQSAR a great opportunity to lead the market in Europe, positioning itself as the most relevant specialist in computational QSAR models.

- The innovation of our technology guarantees that there is no risk of infringement and there is an opportunity to explore them due to the results of the analysis, so we can say that the technology of QSAREACH is new and goes beyond the state of the art.

- We have prepared a plan for exploiting and extending our portfolio, in two different ways of distribution: direct distributions and through key stakeholders. Also, we have fixed the pricing policy, which will be based on annual user licenses.

- The economic viability of the project has been established: the economic value of the investment calculated as the Net Present Value (NPV) is €70,903,558 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 178.52%.

- ProtoQSAR has recently signed a collaborating contract with a relevant client, a cosmetics company considered a leading company in the sector. This contract will enable ProtoQSAR to obtain experimental data from the company in vitro tests to validate the QSAR models developed in real environment. Furthermore, this cosmetics leader has engaged to implement the QSAREACH technological platform in house in order to benefit of the great impact in costs reduction and the chemical improved properties of its future products.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

"Chemical substances (whether as such, their mixtures or contained in multiple articles) have to be authorized, and their associated risks identified and managed. From now, they have to demonstrate previously that the possibility of using alternative methods to carry out those tests has been evaluated. That means that they always have to check alternatives methods, both as final option or to demonstrate that animal tests are finally the only option. These considerations should be documented in the registration file subject to the ""technical completeness check"". In fact, the use of these methods instead of animal testing is clearly stimulated by the REACH regulation itself, which in its text states that ""every effort must be made so that testing chemicals on animals is a last resort – when there is no other scientifically reliable way of showing the impact on humans or the environment. However, registrants need to improve the quality of the alternative data. We will use this report’s findings to promote the proper use of alternative methods and to support their further scientific development. We encourage registrants for the 2018 onwards to use the available in vitro methods and in silico where read-across and QSAR are the only ones accepted at the regulatory level . With QSAR, customers and end-users can thus assess the risk in a simple and rapid manner and, if necessary (as in the case of the so-called ""substances of very high concern, SVHC""), replace the most dangerous substances with alternatives of lower toxicological impact for human health and the environment.

Easier, cheaper, faster and ethical, now QSAREACH will be posited as the best solution in the market and ProtoQSAR will be able to scale up the models to different sectors in a worldwide platform for high-scalable prediction, as final outcome, of the eco-toxicological and toxicological effects of chemicals substances on humans and the environment, including nanomaterials (NMs), that are increasingly used.
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