Roundtable Discussion: Driving Confidence in Preclinical Models Through Robust Validation Standards

  • What does “validated enough” mean in your organisation?
  • How do validation expectations differ between discovery screening, candidate selection, and IND-enabling decisions?
  • How are you selecting positive and negative control compounds, and where do gaps remain?
  • What trade-offs exist between scientific relevance, historical data availability, and program timelines?
  • How do you demonstrate human relevance when clinical anchoring data are limited or absent?
  • What surrogate endpoints (e.g. biomarkers, exposure-response, phenotypic signatures) are most persuasive internally and externally?
  • How do regulatory expectations influence your internal validation bar?
  • Are FDA/EMA interactions raising standards, or creating flexibility around context-ofuse?
  • Where do cross-industry frameworks (e.g. HESI, IQ MPS, consortia efforts) genuinely help, and where do they fall short?