Over 90% of drugs that appear successful in animal tests go on to fail in human clinical trials. This is a staggering statistic underscoring that animals are biologically different from humans, and so animal-based research can be deeply unreliable, which, in turn, hinders medical progress and slows down the advancement of our scientific knowledge. Even more closely related species like mice and rats can react very differently when exposed to the same substances.
So why are animals still being used when kinder, scientifically robust and human-relevant methods exist? The answer, in large part, lies in the money. Most funding for biomedical research is traditionally directed towards animal experiments.
But the momentum of the past does not need to determine the shape of the future, and we are starting to see a real shift. There are groundbreaking advances in animal-free methods coming into play, such as 3D human tissue models, organ-on-chip technologies and AI-driven simulations.
Even so, we are still seeing that a system reliant upon the use of animals continues, while human-relevant research methods are overlooked, even as the data from these human-based technologies are key to addressing the public health challenges of our time. Sometimes, it’s bureaucratic inertia or red tape. Sometimes, it’s the reluctance of regulators or the corporate and institutional sponsors of research and testing to lead the way in transitioning to non-animal methods. Sometimes, it’s a lack of funding or cooperation to really drive the validation and adoption of new methods forward.
Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals
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It’s estimated that more than 190 million animals are used for testing and research across the globe every year, including mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys, dogs, cats and fish. Research labs continue to rely on a practice developed decades ago where they attempt to induce symptoms in animals to artificially mimic human diseases despite major differences between these models and real-world human conditions. Recent gains in the development of more human-relevant methods and technology means that we do not need to continue to lean on these outdated research methods.
Roger Kingbird/We Animals
But there are signs of progress: Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommitted to ending tests on mammals by 2035. And the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which is the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, announced that it is moving away from animal testing and research. Unlike the cosmetics and chemicals testing sectors, the use of animals for biomedical research is not dictated by specific test requirements. This means that change will require challenging the entrenched culture of biomedical research and helping address the systemic barriers that hinder the development and application of human relevant methods
The most powerful lever available to move biomedical research away from animals on a large scale is redirecting funding toward human-relevant approaches. As the founding member of the Biomed21 Collaboration, a global initiative driving a paradigm shift from animal-based research to human-relevant science, we at Humane World for Animals have sparked the conversations necessary to move funding in the right direction. We have worked across countries, and across continents, with governments, academic institutions and other relevant funding agencies working to shift funds toward innovative, human-relevant, animal-free research that can advance public health and spare countless animals from suffering.
It’s astounding to think that the labs of the 1970s—where stacks and stacks of tiny, bare, metal cages would contain hundreds of animals who had been disfigured by devices or infected with diseases—so closely resemble the labs that are still in operation today. It’s absurd that this is still the horrifying reality for millions of animals today, in an age where almost every other industry evolves in response to technological progress. And the public is right to increasingly question the use and the ethics of animal research. Now it’s time for the research and regulatory sectors to catch up.
Let’s create a world where scientific progress is based on innovation, not animal suffering.
Kitty Block is president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. Follow Kitty Block on X. Sara Amundson is president of Humane World Action Fund.
