CAARE Joins Inaugural 'World Day of Animal Free Research' on May 27; Notes U.S. Legislation to Remove FDA's Animal Testing Mandate

World Day for Animal Free Research was established to lend urgency and importance to the need and capability to replace animals in experimentation. On this inaugural day, Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation is highlighting pending federal legislation with the potential to pass this year that will remove the animal testing mandate from the FDA.

NEW YORK, May 26, 2022  /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Citizens for Alternatives to Animals in Research and Experimentation (CAARE) ? a non-governmental nonprofit that is promoting federal legislation to phase out the use of animals in testing ? has announced its participation in the inaugural World Day of Animal Free Research on May 27, 2022, introduced in the UK by the organization, Animal Free Research.

CAARE was established in 2014 with the goal of ending the use of animals in experiments by demonstrating how they impede medical progress, and how they can be replaced with scientifically and morally superior methods.

"Cutting-edge technology has forged new frontiers in biology and medicine that have produced human-relevant models that can replace animals. These include organoid cell cultures, organs-on-chips, genomics, sophisticated computer models, and much more," said Barbara Stagno, CAARE's president.

An estimated 90 to 95 percent of drugs and vaccines found safe in animal tests fail during human clinical trials. The cost for developing a single new drug may be from $1 - $6 billion and takes an average of 10 to 15 years from lab to market. See here, here, here and here . The problem can be addressed by using ethical, human-relevant test methods to develop safer and more effective treatments.

As an example, researchers recently assessed the performance of Liver-Chips ? miniaturized organs-on-a chip developed by biotech company Emulate, Inc. ? to evaluate the toxicity of 22 known drugs.

The study demonstrated that the Liver-Chip was able to correctly identify 87 percent of the tested drugs that had caused drug-induced liver injury in patients after passing through animal testing.

Notably, the liver damage experience by these patients resulted in 208 fatalities and 10 liver transplants. Had these drugs been tested using the Liver-Chip, it appears likely that many of these fatalities and severe liver injuries would have been avoided.

"It is time for federal funding and regulation to keep pace with scientific innovation by investing in non-animal research," said CAARE, which has worked to develop and introduce a landmark piece of federal legislation, The Humane Research and Testing Act of 2021 (H.R. 1744) to create a federal institute to fund and promote research without animals.

H.R. 1744 will establish the National Center for Alternatives to Animals in Research under the National Institutes of Health to develop, fund and incentivize scientists to use non-animal methods of research, supporting scientists to carry out the most modern and innovative human-relevant research.

Additionally, CAARE is working with its affiliate, the Center for a Humane Economy, to advance legislation that would end the requirement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that all new drug candidates be tested on animals.

The FDA Modernization Act of 2021, (H.R. 2565 and S. 2952), would eliminate the requirement that all new drugs go through extensive rounds of animal testing. It will, for the first time, allow drug developers to use methods other than animal testing to establish the drug's safety and effectiveness.

On May 18, the FDA Modernization Act, now incorporated into a broader legislative packet (H.R. 7667) passed the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously.

It will come before the full house for a vote in mid-June. The package is part of the required five-year renewal for FDA's funding structure and as such is considered a "must pass" before the September 30 expiration.

"This is truly a breakthrough. The bill stands a good chance of enactment in the next few months, and with that, the end of an outdated paradigm that mandates drug testing on animals," said Stagno.

"World Day for Animal Free Research recognizes that it's time we put more resources into modernizing medicine by shifting away from animals. The burgeoning evidence shows that this will improve outcomes for humans and animals."

"That the FDA Modernization Act is on a fast track to enactment, with robust bipartisan support in both chambers, shows that our lawmakers have come to understand the flaws of animal research. Though the final result has yet to be determined, we are excited that the current trajectory portends a groundbreaking outcome."

The FDA Modernization Act was initiated by the Center for a Humane Economy and powered by a coalition of groups that includes CAARE, Animal Wellness Action, the Animal Wellness Foundation, the Michelson Center for Public Policy, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and backed by an alliance of over 120 entities comprising animal welfare, patient advocacy and biotech companies.

Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation (CAARE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to highlight and promote research without animals.

CAARE is a proud affiliate of the Center for a Humane Economy, dedicated to forging a humane economic order.

Media Contact

Barbara Stagno, CAARE, 1 9148390857, [email protected]

SOURCE CAARE