In the news
7 Jan 2009
25 October 2008
New report: Replacing Primates in Medical Research
As Europe prepares to review Directive 86/609/EEC regulating the use of animals for experiments, a key new report has been published calling for greater action to replace the use of non-human primates with more advanced, human-relevant research techniques.
Replacing Primates in Medical Research is authored by members of non-animal research coalition Focus on Alternatives (FoA). It uses detailed case-studies of failing primate research models to show how moving away from animal experiments will benefit vital medical research areas such as AIDS, stroke, malaria and hepatitis C. All have used significant numbers of primates over many years but with very limited success in translating to human benefit. Conversely, a more recent shift towards non-animal techniques has not only saved the lives of primates, but is also making a major contribution to these important areas of medical research.
Virtually all stakeholders on both sides of the animal research debate agree that it is ethically desirable to replace primate experiments. Our new report assumes that ethical starting point and so focuses on the scientific imperative to achieve an end to primate use.
For each disease area, it examines the extent to which primate experiments are failing to deliver solutions that are sustained through human clinical trials, and furthermore how advanced non-animal approaches are producing more human-relevant data.
Worldwide, many thousands of primates continue to be used in HIV research, and yet at least 37 animal-tested HIV vaccines have failed in humans. Ninety-five stroke drugs have passed animal tests but failed in clinical trials. And in malaria research the parasite that infects humans doesn’t naturally infect primates and this has led to a failure to reproduce, in clinical trials, results that have been seen in the laboratory.
By contrast, non-animal methods have already shown enormous promise: human liver cells in vitro for screening anti-malarial drugs; safe, temporary virtual brain lesions to study brain damage in human volunteers; human brain imaging combined with post mortem studies and cell culture for stroke research; and molecular and computer modelling for AIDS vaccine research. These techniques are already beginning to replace primate use in areas where, for years, researchers have claimed replacements would be impossible.
The evidence is there to show that replacing primates in the laboratory is a win-win solution for people and animals. But a strategic change is required to accelerate the development and implementation of more relevant 21st century techniques. A Europe-wide strategy, facilitated through the revision of Directive 86/609, is needed to achieve the necessary funding and political and scientific focus required to ensure a targeted and time-tabled phase-out of primate research, and indeed all animal research.
We’re sending a copy of our report to politicians in Brussels and will be working hard to ensure that as the revised Directive 86/609 is debated, the goal of replacing animal experiments is high on the political agenda.
Download a PDF report here
Click here to visit our dedicated website on Directive 86/609
