Animals should no longer be forced to suffer in studies that drug companies now know are not needed
Last month, we welcomed the publication of a study by the UK’s National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) that supports our own ground-breaking research showing that using a second species in drug testing is outdated and unnecessary.
The report’s key finding was that out of 172 drugs studied, two-thirds could have been progressed through human clinical trials with long term tests from just one, instead of two, animal species.
At present, regulations require a new drug to be tested first on a mouse or a rat and then on a second species, usually a dog or monkey, before progressing to human clinical trials.
We have written to regulatory bodies all around the world, including the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (JMAFF) and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) as well as other regional and international pharmaceutical industry bodies, and the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA), to draw their attention to this report and urge them to take decisive action.
We believe, that with significant attention and resources, the use of a second animal species to test human drugs can be phased out, leading to a substantial reduction in unnecessary animal suffering in the near future.