New Approach Methodology (NAMs)

NAMs seek to replace all current forms of animal and nonanimal testing. However, by law, animals cannot be used if working alternatives exist.

NAMs are faster, more reliable and cheaper than using animals

The UK is home to the world’s foremost centre for developing animal alternatives. It has a project to replace animals like dogs in regulatory testing by making NAMs fit-for-this purpose, which they currently are not. The project runs until 2025 and is at the proof-of-concept phase.

Sequani should switch to NAMs

Sequani, like all contract research organisations, already uses non animal methods either alongside animals or instead of them if they work.

Sequani uses Beagle Dogs

Dogs are mainly used to show that lifesaving new medicines, including those recently in the media for cancer and Alzheimer’s, are safe enough to advance to human testing. Dogs are not used to test industrial chemicals or in experiments with severe suffering.

Testing involving Animals is not relevant to humans

The most authoritative study on animal to human translation is thought to be from the IQ Consortium, and shows that rats, mice, rabbits, and dogs’ ability to predict human safety (NPV) is high:

Sequani conduct toxicity tests on pregnant animals

The UK’s greatest drug scandal, mutations caused by thalidomide, occurred because tests were not undertaken on pregnant animals. When medicines or products say that they are not suitable for pregnant women it is because they can cause damage to a foetus while leaving the mother unaffected.