Advancing safety pharmacology: Emerging technologies, innovative methods, and future directions.

This editorial introduces the annual themed issue of the Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods (JPTM) dedicated to methodologies in safety pharmacology. The issue draws on content presented at the 2025 Safety Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting in Utrecht, The Netherlands, which featured 124 posters, many of which are reproduced as abstracts in this volume. The manuscripts primarily focus on advances in core battery safety evaluations and data analysis methodologies, while also highlighting emerging areas of investigation, including applications of artificial intelligence, digital monitoring technologies for enhanced safety assessment, in vitro assays recapitulating a range of organ systems and assessment of the hERG IC10 value as an alternative to the conventional IC50 value. The continued publication of these themed issues over the more than two decades underscores the importance of methodological innovation and evaluation, as well as the central role of safety pharmacology in driving these advancements.