Humanimal Trust welcomes the UK government’s new strategy, announced by Science Minister Lord Vallance, to accelerate the phase-out of animal testing in science.
This roadmap marks a significant step toward a future where human and animal health advance together — but not at the expense of an animal’s life.
As a charity founded on the principle of One Medicine – where humans and animals benefit equally from medical progress – we strongly support the development and adoption of innovative, humane and scientifically robust non-animal alternatives (NAMs).
Ensuring veterinary research is not left behind
While the strategy rightly accelerates the use of human-relevant, non-animal methods in biomedical research, veterinary applications must not be overlooked. Dedicated funding and validation pathways for veterinary NAMs are essential to ensure that all species benefit equally from scientific innovation.
Veterinary NAMs – innovative non-animal methods designed for studying diseases, diagnostics and treatments in animal patients – are an integral part of the One Medicine approach. Their development would improve animal welfare in research and clinical practice, reduce reliance on animal testing, and deliver better data to treat sick animals.
Improving veterinary and animal clinical trials
It is our hope that this change will also improve veterinary and animal clinical trials – studies involving animal patients to benefit their own health – by:
- Involving animals in clinical trials for legitimate veterinary research, evaluating treatments that directly help animal patients (for example, dogs with cancer).
- Providing better predictions before testing on animals, as emerging non-animal technologies – such as organ-on-chip systems and AI-based toxicity models – can indicate how a drug might act in the body before it is ever given to an animal.
- Enabling smarter and more reliable clinical studies, informed by a deeper molecular understanding of how treatments work, allowing scientists to design trials that ask the right questions.
- Ensuring animals are only included when truly needed, and always in ways that directly benefit their own health and wellbeing.
- Encouraging One Medicine collaboration and translational alignment between human and veterinary medicine.
A call to action for government and funders
Humanimal Trust calls on the UK government and research funders to:
- Include veterinary-relevant NAMs in the UK roadmap.
- Actively support One Medicine collaboration between human and veterinary researchers.
- Ensure the new national hub for alternatives facilitates cross-species learning and shared data to accelerate progress for all species.
Continued collaboration between government, researchers, regulators, and animal welfare organisations will be key to achieving the strategy’s goals. Advancing veterinary and human NAMs together will ensure that the transition away from animal testing benefits both humans and animals — fulfilling the UK government’s commitment to improved animal welfare and cementing the UK’s leadership in One Medicine innovation.
Humanimal Trust stands ready to support and develop partnerships that drive a truly integrated One Medicine future – where medical progress benefits all species.