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Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Thursday, 27 February 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 March 2025. It was answered by Feryal Clark (Labour) on Friday, 7 March 2025 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.


Medicine: Research

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with regulators on supporting the uptake of human-specific technologies to replace the use of animals in the preclinical testing of new medicines.

Answer

The Government is committed to the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. We are engaging with regulators including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and international medicines regulators such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) as to how we will take this commitment forward.

Government support for alternative methods includes human specific technologies such as organoids and organs-on-chips. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) provides major funding for one of Europe’s largest organ-on-a-chip facilities at Queen Mary University.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
34233
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Medicine Research Technology
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk