UK commits £75m to phasing out animal testing

ANIMAL TESTING in the UK could be largely phased out under a new £75m (US$99m) government plan to accelerate technological alternatives in medicine and agriculture.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has published a roadmap outlining how regulatory animal tests – used to assess the safety of vaccines, pesticides and other products – can be replaced with digital and laboratory-based methods. The government says new funding and streamlined regulation will support researchers developing these technologies.

Science minister Lord Vallance said: “Nobody in our country of animal lovers wants to see suffering and our plan will support work to end animal testing wherever possible and roll out alternatives as soon as it is safe and effective to do so.”

Phase-out targets

The roadmap has specific phase-out goals, including ending regulatory animal tests for skin and eye irritation and skin sensitisation by 2026. Botox on mice will also be phased out by 2027.

Pharmacokinetic studies on dogs, which involves tracking how drugs move through the body, is targeted for reduction by 2030.

Alternative methods

The government has established a National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to find alternatives to animal testing.

Funding from DSIT, the Medical Research Council, Innovate UK and the Wellcome Trust is helping accelerate “human in vitro models”, including organ-on-a-chip systems that recreate miniature, functional human tissues. The technology is already being tested in the UK to mimic the impact diseases have on the liver, brain and blood vessels.

Experts have welcomed the plan but warn that infrastructure to support widespread adoption is essential.

Matthew Gibson, chair of sustainable biomaterials at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, said: “For widespread uptake, and to displace animal usage, we urgently need technology to bank and distribute these cell/models.

“Effective transport, such as advanced cold-chain methods, could allow all researchers to access the most relevant models, on demand, rather than relying on centralised facilities or developing (expensive) in-house expertise.”