Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:59

ECVAM recommends non-animal antibody production Featured

The JRC's EU reference laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) has made a recommendation urging end-users and other stakeholders to recognize the scientific validity of non-animal-derived antibodies and to stop using animals for the development and production of antibodies.


The recommendation is based on the opinion of the Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) of EURL ECVAM.

For many years, animal-free methods for the generation and production of antibodies such as the phage display technology are available. The technique is extremely versatile and can be used very efficiently to generate an almost infinite spectrum of high-quality antibodies. Antibodies produced by phage display are already widely used in various fields, including therapeutics.

Every year, almost 1 million animals are used in the EU for the production and manufacture of antibodies, although there are technologies that do not require the use of animals. These procedures cause great suffering for the animals.

Source:
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-update/better-antibodies-without-using-animals