The US Food and Drug Administration will not require animal testing before human testing in drug trials, new legislation passed by the House of Representatives says.
As part of the FDA Modernisation 2.0 bill, the regulatory agency will end its animal testing mandate for the approval of drugs to be used by humans, a requirement in place since the 1930s.
“The FDA Modernisation Act 2.0 will accelerate innovation and get safer, more effective drugs to market more quickly by cutting red tape that is not supported by current science,” Republican Senator Rand Paul said in a statement in January.
“The inclusion of this bipartisan effort is a step towards ending the needless suffering and death of animal test subjects — which I’m glad both Republicans and Democrats can agree needs to end.”
Democratic Senator Cory Booker introduced the bill alongside Mr Paul.
NPR reported that the move does not ban animal testing; it only removes the requirement for such drug test practices for FDA approval. Pharmaceutical companies can still conduct animal tests if they choose.
The agency told Science Magazine that it will recommend and support “alternative methods that are backed by science and provide the necessary data showing whether products are safe and effective” as part of the change.
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Volunteers will help them adjust the dogs to people before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP -
Daniel, a staff member with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, hugs a beagle after returning from the Paw Prints Animal Hospital in Maryland for veterinary appointments. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / AFP -
A beagle's teeth are shown prior to dental work at Paw Prints Animal Hospital and before going to a foster home. Getty Images / AFP -
Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, trims the fingernails of a sedated beagle in Waldorf, Maryland. Getty Images / AFP -
A beagle rescued from Envigo breeding and research facility waits to be taken to Paw Prints Animal Hospital for a medical check up. Getty Images / AFP -
Homeward Trails Animal Rescue partnered with Paw Prints clinic to get rescued pets spayed and neutered as well as dental work, and heartworm treatment done before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP -
Once in peril of being tortured, these rescued beagles now run freely. Getty Images / AFP -
Homeward Trails has been working to find homes for 500 of the 4,000 beagles recently rescued from Envigo, which was shut down due to multiple violations for animal cruelty. Getty Images / AFP -
Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, places a beagle in a calming room after it was recently spayed at Paw Prints Animal Hospital. Getty Images / AFP -
The purebred pooches will be available for adoption after getting proper vet care. Getty Images / AFP -
Beagles from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue are placed in a transportation vehicle before going to a veterinary clinic for spay and neuter operations. Getty Images / AFP -
Volunteers play rescued beagles at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. Getty Images / AFP -
A pup is readied for bedtime. Getty Images / AFP -
Staff members with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue place beagles in their crates before their bedtime. Getty Images / AFP -
Rescued from potential torture, this beagle may soon have a new home. Getty Images / AFP -
Volunteers with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue sit and watch a movie with the lucky dogs. Getty Images / AFP -
Volunteers pet and hold the animals daily. Getty Images / AFP -
Beagles at Westminster Kennel Dog Show in the UK. Not all of the breed have it so lucky, and animal rights activists have been hitting the streets claiming that a dog's place is in the home, not the lab. AP -
Camp Beagle is a protest camp on the roadside set up outside beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, in August 2021. The company's pups are sold to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty -
Beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, sells its puppies to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty -
A protester outside Marshal BioResources Acres. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty -
Residents of Camp Beagle and their supporters gather outside Marshal BioResources. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty -
Singer Will Young during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site in April. Photo: tcm.digital -
Young and other activists during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site. Photo: tcm.digital -
Protesters rally against Vivotecnia, a laboratory alleged to have used more than 30 beagle puppies for drug research, in Sant Jaume square in Barcelona, Spain, in January. EPA -
The protesters in Barcelona took along their own pups. EPA -
Vivotecnia is alleged to have used more than 30 beagle pups for drug research. EPA -
Beagles at the protest in Barcelona in January. EPA
Organisations such as Animal Wellness Action, Centre for a Humane Economy and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals cheered on the adoption of the bill.
Some drug companies are against the requirement of animal tests, citing high costs and numerous animal deaths.
The bill did not go without opposition, including from the National Association for Biomedical Research and Americans for Medical Research, because of the novelty of non-animal testing options.
The legislation was passed in late December and President Joe Biden has formally signed it into law.
