(The Center Square) – A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has reintroduced legislation to push the Food and Drug Administration to adopt modern alternatives to animal testing.
The bill would require the FDA to speed up its approval of new testing methods that don’t involve animals, such as cell-based research, computer models, and lab-grown organ tissues. These methods are said to be more reliable, cost-effective, and humane.
The National Institute of Health, the primary U.S. government agency responsible for medical and health research, spends approximately $5.5 billion annually on taxpayer-funded animal testing, according to documents.
U.S. Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., the bill’s leading sponsor, said, “We cannot allow the FDA to continue to delay implementing this critical law. If passed, this bipartisan legislation will require the FDA to finally update its regulations and will pave the way for more scientifically reliable and humane methods of drug development.”
Between 90% and 95% of drugs that pass animal testing fail in human trials, which can take up to 15 years and cost between $1 billion and $6 billion, according to a news release from the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
The legislation also builds on similar laws passed, known as the FDA Modernized Act 2.0, which allows drug companies to use alternatives to animal testing. However, lawmakers say that the FDA has been slow to implement the new changes, resulting in the push for clearer guidelines to make the alternatives more accepted.
“For too long, bureaucratic inertia has delayed the implementation of these changes, which are vital to saving lives, reducing costs, and bringing life-saving treatments to patients more efficiently. This legislation sends a clear message: Americans deserve a regulatory system that embraces innovation, not one stuck in the past,” U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky said in a statement.
The bill has garnered support from Democrats and Republicans, with co-sponsors such as Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Paul, Angus King, I-Maine, John Kennedy, R-La., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“It is essential that FDA be proactive in using the most predictive scientific methods in its decision-making. Human-centric techniques such as organs-on-a-chip and organoids are developing rapidly and have the potential to improve, and even accelerate, bringing safe and effective products to the market,” said Paul A. Locke, JD, DrPH, professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
He continued, “This legislation will focus FDA’s attention where it needs to be – improving regulations that will lead to better treatments, more cures.”