Promoting animal testing that takes into account animal welfare
ºÚÁÏÍø believes that animal testing is a necessary and required part of verifying safety and efficacy in the development of new drugs.
The Group carries out research and development in compliance with the relevant rules and regulations for animal testing. In Japan, we have established in-house guidelines in accordance with the Fundamental Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Animal Experiments and Related Activities as laid down by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and comply with national laws and applicable government agency and ministry guidelines. Animal testing is monitored and controlled by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which includes outside experts, in order to ensure the dignity of the animals involved and to comply with the 3R*1 principles for animal testing. Additionally, in each country, we are making every effort to implement appropriate animal testing based on the 3R principles, and in accordance with local laws.
At the Tsukuba Research Laboratories and the Kobe Research Laboratories, we carry out self-monitoring and evaluation of animal tests to verify that each test is conducted appropriately. The initiatives for these animal tests are evaluated as accurately implementing animal testing based on the MHLW's guidelines mentioned above, and we have received certification from the Health Science Center for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and Use*2 of the Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center. Furthermore, our ºÚÁÏÍø Center for Genetics Guided Dementia Discovery (G2D2) in the United States has received the accreditation of the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International*3, which is a global, third-party evaluation organization.
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*13R: reduction in the number of animals used, replacement with non-animal experiments whenever possible and refinement to alleviate animal suffering
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*2Health Science Center for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and Use: Organization established within the Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center with the purpose of assessing and verifying compliance with the Basic Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Animal Testing and Related Activities in the Research Institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
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*3Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International: A private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs.