Animal testing in all its forms is a highly sensitive issue. The Government’s ambition is to reach the point at which animal research and testing is no longer necessary, having been fully replaced by effective alternatives. This ambition is why the UK is one of the world's leading nations in the development of non-animal methods.
The Government has recognised the public concern surrounding the testing on animals of chemicals used as ingredients in cosmetics. The Government has decided to ban cosmetic testing on animals. Since the ban of 17 May 2023, no animal testing is being conducted, nor will any testing be authorised, of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products.
Therefore, the law requires that animals are only used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used, and potential harm is the minimum needed to achieve scientific benefit. Without animal testing it is highly likely that a large number of potentially dangerous new medicines would be tested in healthy volunteers and patients in clinical trials. This would be completely unacceptable.
While current technology does not make it possible to wholly replace animal testing, I welcome the Government's commitment to the development of non-animal technologies. Such technologies have the potential to reduce the reliance on the use of animals, improve the efficiency of drug research and development, and deliver safer, cheaper, and more effective medicines to patients. The Government is actively supporting and funding the development and dissemination of the three Rs which aim to replace the use of animals not necessary for research; to reduce the use of animals in the meantime; and to refine to eliminate or reduce distress to those animals already involved.
These three goals make up the 3R strategy which will be achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Since it was established, the NC3Rs has invested £89.3 million in research and £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme for UK and EU based institutions, with that funding mainly focused on approaches for safer assessment of pharmaceuticals. It was most welcome that the Science Minister announced in February 2024 that the Government’s investment to the NC3Rs was to increase from £10 million per year to £20 million per year.
The Government will be publishing a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce the reliance of animals in science later this year.
