The Modern Politics of Laboratory Animal Use

A recovery phase—a nondosing period that follows the main dosing phase of a study—is sometimes included in nonclinical toxicity studies, and it is designed to understand whether toxicities observed at the end of the dosing phase are partially or completely reversible. For biopharmaceuticals with long half-lives, the inclusion of recovery arms can be helpful in understanding effects of prolonged exposure and assessing antidrug antibodies. This commentary discusses when to include recovery groups in nonclinical toxicity studies, the number of recovery groups to include in a given study, the number of animals to include in each recovery group, and the duration of the recovery phase. In general, the inclusion of recovery arms should follow a case-by-case approach that values rational scientific design and reflects the development needs and regulatory requirements applicable to individual nonclinical programs to ensure appropriate guidance for human studies while minimizing laboratory animal use.

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Reduction and Refinement of Laboratory Animal Use

The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments ◽

10.1057/9780230306417_9 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 125-135

Author(s):

Andrew Knight

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Animal ◽

Animal Use

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Putting the Ethical Principles into Practice

Principles of Animal Research Ethics ◽

10.1093/med/9780190939120.003.0004 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 69-78

Author(s):

Rebecca Dresser

Keyword(s):

Policy Change ◽

Laboratory Animal ◽

Social Benefit ◽

Core Values ◽

Animal Research ◽

Scientific Quality ◽

Scientific Review ◽

Committee Membership ◽

Animal Use ◽

Research Studies

Beauchamp and DeGrazia introduce a framework of core values and principles for animal research studies that is more comprehensive than the leading alternative—Russell and Burch’s Three-Rs scheme of replacing, refining, and reducing laboratory animal use. Beauchamp and DeGrazia’s principles flesh out both social benefit requirements and animal welfare values. I recommend changes that would make their framework a real force in the conduct of animal research. One positive change would be a requirement to increase the diversity of institutional committee membership. A better scientific review system would substantially improve assessments of the justification of research studies. Existing government provisions on animal research direct committees to consider scientific quality but fail to provide the tools for doing so. Setting limits on the number of animals allowed in research is another needed policy change.

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Training for Reduction in Laboratory Animal Use

Alternatives to Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1177/026119290403202s13 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 32 (2_suppl) ◽

pp. 65-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Timo Nevalainen

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Animal ◽

Animal Use

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Reduction in Laboratory Animal Use by Factorial Design

Alternatives to Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1177/026119290403202s10 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 32 (2_suppl) ◽

pp. 49-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert Shaw

Keyword(s):

Factorial Design ◽

Laboratory Animal ◽

Animal Use

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The Fourth EC Report on the Statistics of Laboratory Animal Use: Trends, Recommendations and Future Prospects

Alternatives to Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1177/026119290503300401 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 417-426 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christina Grindon ◽

Nirmala Bhogal

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Animal ◽

Reporting System ◽

Transgenic Animals ◽

The European Union ◽

Future Prospects ◽

Member States ◽

Fourth Report ◽

Animal Use ◽

The Uk ◽

First Time

At the beginning of 2005, the European Commission published its fourth report on the statistics of the number of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. A total of 10.7 million animals were used within the Member States of the European Union (EU) in 2002, an increase of almost a million animals since the 1999 report. France, Germany and the UK continue to be the largest users of animals for scientific purposes, and mice, rats, fish and birds remain the most commonly-used animals. For the first time, all 15 Member States used the standardised “EU tables”, as had been agreed in 1998. This has made it easier to identify areas on which Three Rs initiatives should be focused. Nevertheless, the reporting system still has a number of serious deficiencies. In particular, there are insufficient data on the numbers of animals that are kept or bred for research purposes, the numbers of transgenic animals, and the severity of procedures that are applied.

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