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Use of non-human primates

GSK’s aim is to discover and develop medicines and vaccines that will help to alleviate the suffering caused by diseases.  Where we can, we use alternatives to animal studies in the research and development of new treatments. Scientific principles and our processes ensure that we follow the principles of the 3Rs to replace, reduce and refine animal studies.

However there are aspects of our work that cannot be carried out in any other way. In those cases, medicines and vaccines need to be studied in an animal where the disease process is similar to that in humans.

In some instances, non-human primates are the only animals that can provide certain critical information about a disease and its treatment.  Examples include the discovery of medicines for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, certain forms of viral hepatitis, and for testing the safety and quality of some vaccines. 

The research we do on non-human primates is kept to an absolute minimum.  Less than 0.5 per cent of the animals we use in our studies are non-human primates.

Why we use non-human primates

It is important that we understand how any disease works when we are identifying possible treatments, as well as making sure that the medicines or vaccines we develop are effective and safe for humans.

Our policy requires that studies involving animals must use the lowest possible order (phylogenetically) of animal appropriate for the research study.  Occasionally, non-human primates may be the only animals where the anatomy and/or physiology of a disease is similar to that in humans.  Or sometimes only human and non-human primates will be affected by, or respond to, a potential medicine or vaccine; for instance, a new medicine may be based on a molecule produced by primates, including humans, and would be destroyed by the immune systems of other species.  

Therefore, in certain cases we need to conduct tests on non-human primates before deciding whether to start trials in humans. There are also some situations where we have to test vaccines that we already produce on non-human primates to ensure that each batch is effective and safe for use. These cases are always guided by national regulations or scientific requirements and are kept to a minimum.

You can read about our policy on research in non-human primates (PDF 81Kb).

Where non-human primates come from

We use non-human primates that have been specifically bred for use in research. We would only use primates caught in the wild under exceptional circumstances and only with specific authorisations from the appropriate authorities.

Great apes in research

At the end of October 2008, we voluntarily introduced a new policy stating that we would not initiate or initiate funding of studies using great apes. Great apes are a sub-group of non-human primates which covers gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos.  In the vast majority of biomedical studies, it has been the chimpanzees that have been studied. 

We recognise that these studies involving chimpanzees have played a vital role in the understanding of many diseases that affect humans; specifically infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C and HIV/Aids.

However, we also recognise that - in part thanks to new directions and advancement of animal models and other techniques in biomedical research - the case for using great apes in the future is less clear than it may have been previously.

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