Replacing Animal Testing

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/09/2019

The PETA International Science Consortium, Imperial Brands, Altria Group, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International have come together to donate equipment that can help to replace the use of animals in respiratory testing with more human-relevant non-animal test methods.

The equipment, worth $100,000 and manufactured by German-based Vitrocell Systems, was donated to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), a nonprofit laboratory in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, that conducts and develops animal-free test methods.

The equipment will be used in IIVS’s respiratory toxicology laboratory, which helps companies assess the effects of smoke, e-vapor and other chemicals on the human respiratory tract. Results from these tests will also help to show regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that non-animal methods are accurate, effective and can be used instead of tests on animals.

This donation follows the Science Consortium’s donation of five Vitrocell machines to laboratories around the world. “This latest donation takes us one step closer to replacing the use of animals in inhalation testing,” says Amy Clippinger, president of the Science Consortium. “Testing chemicals on cells in a way that mimics real-life exposures will lead to more human-relevant results and spare animal lives.”

“We are delighted to contribute to the IIVS, a leader in the advancement of alternatives to animal testing, whose principles are in alignment with our own established position on using in-vitro assays—preferably using human derived cells,” says Tanvir Walele, head of scientific research & harm reduction at Imperial Brands.

“We believe these assays are a more relevant replacement for in-vivo animal testing.”

The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. works to accelerate the development, validation, and global implementation of animal-free testing.  Enditem