The Alliance for Human Relevant Science, an inclusive collaboration of like-minded companies, organisations and individuals working together to support and promote human relevant research for improved health, welcomes reports that the Government will review the use of animals in the development of medicines. Data obtained in animals is of limited relevance to humans and has not enabled development of effective treatments for many life-threatening and debilitating diseases.  There is an urgent need to transition from reliance on animal procedures to use of methods that focus directly on human biology which can provide more useful insights into human diseases and disease treatments. The opportunity provided by methods that use human organs, tissues and cells grown in the lab is a step forward in this transition and has already been highlighted in the Alliance’s series of APPG meetings this year.

Many of our members have worked with pharmaceutical companies, regulators, and academics to address issues raised in making this transition, and a wealth of data supporting the benefits of the new approach methodologies (NAMs) is available. There may be apprehension surrounding this move but we offer our expertise and advice to officials carrying out this review on how this can be done in a measured, responsible and fully informed way.