According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, over 110 million animals turn into casualties in US laboratories each year, no thanks to lab tests done to these creatures. These range from medical training and biology lessons to experimentation and sample testing when developing new products. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published its roadmap outlining plans to reduce animal testing in preclinical safety studies. By working with federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the US FDA is working towards modernizing drug tests.
Reducing animal testing
Drug testing on animals sometimes shows results that don’t match what happens in humans, which is where New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) come in to discover new ways that will reduce animal use in the process. One of these is by using microphysiological systems that can mimic human organs for drug testing and other studies. Another methodology proposed is doing the study and test in silico, wherein the research is done through a computer, digital simulation, or AI. This can help researchers determine how a certain drug will behave when administered to the human body.
Through advanced tissue preservation, ex vivo human tissues can thrive in an artificial environment for biotech advancement purposes as well. These functional tissues can be studied to quickly see the effects of drugs and other methods. The researchers also mapped out a plan to give a tiny amount of the drug to human volunteers, although this is not yet a standard method for testing biological drugs. Scientists, however, are looking forward to proving the safety of the method. High-Throughput Cell-Based Screening through advanced machines and screening to capture images is also proposed to help in this development.
Progress on the roadmap
Due to moral and ethical concerns, scientific unreliability, and financial constraints, eliminating animal use in laboratories is becoming a necessary goal. Since publishing the plan last year, the FDA has taken several steps to reduce reliance on animal testing in drug development. They were able to release and update the draft guidance as well as the evidence to support the use of NAMs. The organization has also established a database for acceptable alternative methods. With their first AI-based drug development tool, in silico models can also be observed and help in further development.
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been taken by Nikolett Emmert.
Sources: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals / US FDA
