KULSA Frontier Forum 2026: NAMs (New Approach Methodogies) in Drug Discovery

Drug Discovery Without Animals 🐁 — Hype or Here? New tools, new rules: the future of drug safety For decades, animal testing has been the default first step in drug safety. That is changing fast. The FDA began phasing out animal testing requirements in 2025, and the UK government followed with a £75M strategy to replace animals in science and a new validation centre, UKCVAM (UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods). New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) have moved from the margins of toxicology into the centre of regulatory strategy. But how ready are we, really? Can AI predict toxicity well enough for a regulator to accept it? Are organoids and iPSC-based models mature enough to carry the weight? Our panel brings together voices from AI toxicology, human cell-based models, organoid and toxicology research, and the UK regulatory body, MHRA, for an honest conversation about where NAMs stand today and where they fall short. Why a Korea 🇰🇷 - UK 🇬🇧conversation? This shift is underway in both countries. In the UK, the groundwork runs from NC3Rs in 2004 to UKCVAM today. In Korea, companies are placing test methods into OECD guidelines and exporting iPSC-derived and organoid models worldwide, and Seoul hosts WC14, the field's largest international congress, in 2027. This transition is one no country completes alone. Whether a method is developed in the UK or S.Korea, it only travels once it reaches an international guideline. That makes cross-border conversation less a nice-to-have than a requirement. Programme Panel discussion, followed by lunch and a networking social 🍽️ MHRA - Dr JW McBlane, Expert Preclinical Assessor Imperial College London - Prof. Tamas Korcsmaros, Associate Professor in Intestinal Epithelial Systems & Head of the Imperial BRC Organoid Facility University of Oxford - Dr Alexander J Davies, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow King’s College London - Dr Sally Yunsun Kim, Lecturer in Respiratory Drug Delivery Calici - Dr Young Bin Park, CSO & Co-founder NEXEL - Mr Eunho Kim, Senior Manager, Business Development Details 📅 Saturday 26 September 2026 🇬🇧In person (London) 11:00–14:00 Clark Kennedy Lecture Theatre Queen Mary University Enterprise Zone Entrance: 5 Walden Street, London E1 2EF 🇰🇷Online (Korea) 19:00–21:00 KST, via Zoom 🙌We welcome everyone interested in life sciences, drug discovery, and AI.🙌 Hosted by KULSA (Korean UK Life-Sciences Association), a UK-registered community interest company connecting Korean life-sciences professionals across academia, industry, the NHS, and government. You can find more about us here.