Animal Research for Life

The use of animals makes up only a small part of the process of developing a new medicine. In parallel efforts are undertaken to search for alternative methods.

On average, it takes 10 to 12 years to develop a new medicine from concept to market Of the entire path of a medicine development, 5 to 10% of research relies on studies involving animals.

We would not enjoy the standard of health we have today without research to better understand how diseases develop and how best to treat them. Animal studies remain a relative small but essential part of that research.

Research, including some studies on animals, has greatly contributed to progress in the treatment of infections, helped with immunisation, improved cancer treatment and has had a major impact on managing heart disease, brain disorders, arthritis and transplantation. Research on rats, dogs and pigs has helped to find new treatments, including bypass surgery and treatments for angina. Polio would still claim hundreds of lives annually without the animal research of the Nobel laureate Albert Sabin.

There is a continued need for research, some of which will, unfortunately, need to rely on testing methods involving animals.

There are many diseases and conditions that remain untreated. This means that three is a continued need for research, some of which will unfortunately rely on animal studies. Despite advances in alternative methods such as the use of single, isolated cells, the development of diseases or physiological processes cannot always be sufficiently studied using these techniques. Animal research helps scientists understand how life-threatening diseases like cancer develop and spread. The end result is new treatments or ways to stop diseases from developing. These studies offer hope to millions of people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, sickle cell disease, stroke, spinal cord damage and tropical diseases like malaria. For only 10,000 out of 30,000 known diseases is there a treatment in place.

Animals used for research purposes are handled and treated with care.

This includes enrichments in housing (such as shelters, shredded paper, pieces of wood or climbing opportunities for caged rats), to provide opportunities for activity and retreat; or respecting animals' social behaviour; most rodents live naturally in groups, so they are usually housed in groups of appropriate size; systems for housing dogs in groups exist, which still allow tracking of the necessary data (for example, food uptake) for each animal individually). Staff are trained in stress-sensitivity, and animals too are trained so that they are at ease in cooperating during the experiments, such as blood samples.

The industry, the scientific community, and regulators constantly undertake major efforts to search for replacement, reduction and refinement methods (i.e. alternative methods).

Non-animal test methods (mathematical and computer models, and advanced tissue and cell cultures), account for about 90% of medical research. A further reduction in the number of research animals used and especially a further minimisation of pain and distress still remains possible. But this will become increasingly difficult, because the more obvious 3R solutions have already been put into practice, while at the same time, there are pressures for a greater use of animals in biomedical research and on safety grounds. In addition it can take 5 to 10 years to validate and implement an alternative for legally required testing.

European regulation on the use of animals is the strictest in the world.

Current EU legislation outlines standards for acquisition and care of animals and for staff conducting experiments; it sets out detailed requirements for authorisation and control of facilities where animals are bred, kept and used, and requires individual identification and life-long record-keeping for certain species (including non-human primates, dogs and cats).