The Bipartisan FDA Modernization Act 2.0 Removes Outdated Animal Testing Mandates

If there’s one thing our legislators seem to agree on, it’s that animals should not be exploited, experimented on, and killed for studies that provide little scientific merit.

Animal testing mandates have been struck down in the U.S. Senate thanks to the bipartisan FDA Modernization Act 2.0 (S.5002) supported by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), which has passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

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The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 (S.5002) has passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

This legislation removed the outdated requirement of testing experimental drugs on animals before humans in clinical trials, and recommends drug sponsors use alternative methods whenever suitable.

“Lawmakers from both parties recognize that the United States must lift an archaic animal-testing mandate for drug development and replace that strategy with 21st-century methods grounded on human biology,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “This is the biggest policy development in Congressional history on the fight to replace animal testing with morally and scientifically superior methods.”

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Animal testing often produces unreliable results, and leaves many animals dead.

Congress originally passed the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938, mandating animal toxicity testing. Science has since proven that animal testing provides inconsistent data at best, while resulting in the deaths of hundreds of animal test subjects.

“The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 will accelerate innovation and get safer, more effective drugs to market more quickly by cutting red tape that is not supported by current science, and I’m proud to have led the charge. The passage of this bipartisan bill is a step toward ending the needless suffering and death of animal test subjects – which I’m glad both Republicans and Democrats can agree needs to end,” said Dr. Paul.

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The use of animal toxicity testing for experimental drugs has become increasingly obsolete, thanks to modern science.

“Thanks to modern scientific innovation, the use of animal toxicity testing for experimental drugs has become increasingly obsolete,” said Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ. “This legislation will eliminate unnecessary suffering for countless animals when scientifically reliable alternative testing methods are available.”

The bill will now head to the U.S. House of Representatives where it will become a law if passed, saving the lives of millions of animals and helping humans get safer, more effective drugs.

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If passed the FDA modernization Act 2.0 will save the lives of millions of animals and helping humans get safer, more effective drugs.

As Phrma reports, it typically takes 10 to 15 years and an average investment of $1 billion and up to $6 billion for a new drug. Animal tests are not effective in predicting human responses to drugs, and in effect slow the process of pharmaceutical innovation, slow the delivery of palliatives and cures for patient groups, and drive up drug prices at the cost of their own lives.

“We are already on the verge of the next phase of modern drug development, and FDA modernization will be the catalyst for this transition to modern science,” noted Tamara Drake, director of research and regulatory policy at the Center for a Humane Economy.

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