JENKINTOWN, PA � Responding to two years of legal
battles over a historically unprecedented policy change, the National
Institutes of Health has announced that government funded researchers
will be directed to shift to in vitro methods of producing monoclonal
antibodies except in limited circumstances. It is expected that animals
may be approved for use in less than 10% of the time. This policy change
has the potential to save up to one million animals every year currently
used like test tubes to produce these commonly used substances.
The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) first
petitioned NIH in 1997, with the goal of banning animal use in MAb
production as has been done in the United Kingdom and several other
European countries. AAVS� scientific affiliate, the Alternatives
Research and Development Foundation (ARDF), had funded successful
research to develop alternatives to the animal ascites method which
causes painful abdominal swelling and has other disadvantages. Many
readily available alternatives are already in use, especially since the
announcements of qualified bans in Europe in recent years.
"NIH has taken a significant step with this response to
our petition" says Tina Nelson, Executive Director of AAVS. "They
acknowledged that the preponderance of scientific evidence points to the
feasibility�interms of ease of use, reliability, and cost � of the in
vitro methods currently available for the vast majority of MAb
production." Ms. Nelson says that AAVS can certainly declare a qualified
victory, even though NIH refused to impose a ban. "As a result of our
forceful but informed advocacy and the widespread discussion it
generated at scientific conferences, adoption of alternatives has come
to be seen as a matter of public policy, not simply the discretion of
the individual researcher."
NIH�s assertion that the in vitro method should be
considered the "default method" from now on is applauded by AAVS and
ARDF, but concerns continue that NIH enforcement will be half-hearted.
Nelson says, "We hope this announcement is a sign that they�ll allocate
the needed resources to ensure that researchers quickly adopt the in
vitro method." For its part, the ARDF will take the initiative by
sending thousands of MAb In Vitro Conversion Kits to members of every
Institutional Animal Care ad Use Committee early next year.
Much work lies ahead in facilitating the conversion to
non-animal production, but ARDF Director John McArdle is confident that
the end is in sight. He says, "United States researchers are finally
joining their European colleagues in ending one of the most painful and
unnecessary procedures routinely carried out on laboratory animals."
Source:
[email protected]
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