There is substantial evidence that animal tests are the weakest link in the safety testing of new drugs: they are so poorly predictive for humans that 92% of candidate drugs fail in clinical trials after success in animal tests.
TGN1412 was given to six healthy young men in the disastrous clinical trial at Northwick Park hospital because it was shown to be safe in monkeys. Vioxx caused up to 140,000 fatal heart attacks and strokes yet tests in mice and monkeys indicated that it protects the heart. Tests in human tissue would have predicted the devastating effects of both Vioxx and TGN1412. 82% of doctors worry that animal tests are misleading – but this has never been scientifically evaluated.
Please sign EDM 92, which calls upon the Government to “facilitate an independent and transparent scientific evaluation of the use of animals as surrogate humans in drug safety testing and medical research.”
EDM 92 does not seek to ban any animal tests but merely to assess them scientifically – for the first time.
Yours sincerely,
