The International 3Rs prize was awarded for research which developed original software which predicts the clinical risk of drug-induced side effects for the heart with higher accuracy than animal experiments.
The software’s computer (in silico) models use human data, rather than animal data: this improves how test results translate to humans and reduces the need for animal experimentation. Rather than a one-model-fits-all, this software uses a population-based approach, which is an important step towards personalised medicine.