Current:Home > NewsThe FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials -TradeCircle
The FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials
View
Date:2025-04-18 12:18:38
A new U.S. law has eliminated the requirement that drugs in development must undergo testing in animals before being given to participants in human trials.
Animal rights advocates have long pushed for such a move, and some in the pharmaceutical industry have argued that animal testing can be ineffective and expensive.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, who sponsored the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, said in a statement that the new law will help end the "needless suffering and death of animal test subjects" and will "get safer, more effective drugs to market more quickly by cutting red tape that is not supported by current science."
PETA cheered the new law as a "radical shift" in how new drugs and treatments will be created.
Signed by President Biden in December as part of a larger spending package, the law doesn't ban the testing of new drugs on animals outright.
Instead it simply lifts the requirement that pharmaceutical companies use animals to test new drugs before human trials. Companies can still test drugs on animals if they choose to.
There are a slew of other methods that drugmakers employ to assess new medications and treatments, such as computer modeling and "organs on a chip," thumb-sized microchips that can mimic how organs' function are affected by pharmaceuticals.
But Aliasger Salem, a professor at the University of Iowa's College of Pharmacy, told NPR that companies opting to use these alternative testing methods as a replacement for animal testing must be aware of the methods' limits to ensure their drugs are safe.
"The companies need to be aware of the limitations of those technologies and their ability to identify or not identify potential toxicities," Salem said.
"You don't want to shift to systems that might not capture all of the types of toxicities that have been seen in the past without ensuring that the methods that you have will capture that."
An FDA spokesperson told NPR that it will "implement all applicable provisions in the omnibus and continue to work with stakeholders to encourage the development of alternative testing methods."
This year's federal budget also includes $5 million for a new FDA program aimed at reducing animal testing by helping to develop and encourage industry to adopt new product testing methods, the spokesperson said.
The National Association for Biomedical Research, which supports testing drugs in animals, says animal testing in conjunction with human trials "remains the best way to examine complex physiological, neuroanatomical, reproductive, developmental and cognitive effects of drugs to determine if they are safe and effective for market approval."
The new law amends the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which was originally passed in 1938.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Ranking
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Recommendation
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Average rate on 30
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex