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In 2009, 4,799 beagles were used in pharmaceutical safety and efficacy evaluation. |
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The cost of preparing just one transgenic mouse is in the region of £90 to £1,800! |
To download a copy of the MP Briefing please
click here. | |
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Not only more humane, and more economical, non-animal tests can provide results faster. Quickening the development of new drugs, lowering the cost of Research & Development (R&D), which in turn reduces the cost charged to the NHS, and develops life-saving drugs on the market more quickly benefitting patients.
Naturewatch MP Briefing – April 2011
Humane research benefits people too!
The coalition’s pledge to work to reduce the number of animals used in research is welcome news indeed. It comes on the heels of record numbers of scientific procedures on animals, making the UK the 2nd highest user of animals in experiments in Europe.
Naturewatch’s MP Briefing outlines how hi-tech non-animal methods applied in fields of research responsible for the highest levels of animal testing can deliver the coalitions pledge. These pioneering methods provide new approaches to the quality control of vaccines and pre-clinical testing of new drugs, and makes sound economic sense.
Costly in terms of finance, time and animal welfare
 Currently pre-clinical testing is required on two species. Tests to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical compounds can range from a few days to 3 months in duration and, increasingly, genetically modified animals are used. If the compound fails to pass the preclinical evaluation phase, financial losses are quoted upwards of £3 million.
It's easy to see how costly the early phases of drug development are in terms of time, money and animal lives. In 2009, 343,683 animals were used for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy testing in Great Britain, of which 4,799 were beagles and 2,554 were non-human primates. A necessary evil, some might say? And yet typically 92% of compounds which pass animal tests then go on to fail in subsequent clinical trials!
If the drug does make it onto the market, the costs incurred in development are passed onto customers and the National Health Service. In times of economic restraint this surely has to be a consideration. The process of drug safety testing which has evolved over the years is unwieldy and wasteful, dependent on inordinately high levels of animal testing that is of limited value. It’s time for change.... |