Written question asked by Virendra Sharma (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 February 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 February 2023 (named day). It was answered by George Freeman (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 February 2023 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Animal Experiments

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an estimate of the potential economic benefit of innovation in advanced methods and approaches to replace the use of animals in research and testing.

Answer: The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Secondary information