- During 2020, more than nine billion dollars were allocated to the research and development of vaccines against Covid-19.
- The creation of new medicines requires at least a decade of work.
- For the preclinical stages, it is necessary to experiment with animals to verify the functioning of possible new drugs, but now that process will be changed with the use of technology.
The world requires new medicines and it is an unavoidable situation. There are so many diseases and conditions that exist that pharmacological alternatives are required to offer a solution to patients. The problem is that coming up with a new formula requires extensive work, including animal testing.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful in the world but also one of those that invests the most in technology. During 2020 alone, more than nine billion dollars were allocated to the research and development of vaccines against Covid-19. With this, it is the largest cash injection ever raised for a disease in such a short time.
Thanks to this large amount of money, an immunization was achieved in such a short time. In addition, millions of doses have been developed for immediate distribution worldwide.
On the other hand, it cannot be forgotten that there are other low and high incidence diseases that also need new treatments. In all cases, a long road must be faced and overcome that requires at least a decade of work.
Farewell to animal suffering to test new drugs
In this sense, everything starts with preclinical trials that consist of experiments carried out on animals to verify the response to possible new drugs. Based on the results, it is possible to advance to the following stages where the proposals are applied in small numbers of humans.
This mechanism has existed for centuries despite multiple criticisms from organizations dedicated to caring for animal rights. His argument is that animals are exposed and in all cases they are infected on purpose to find a possible solution to a disease.
But now that will no longer be necessary, at least in the United States. All part of a new legislation approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is now no longer mandatory for pharmaceutical companies to have their drugs first tested on animals during the clinical trial stages.
The FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials https://t.co/64FxyMGLd5
— NH Public Radio (@nhpr) January 12, 2023
The decision has been applauded by organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). With this it is recognized that it is a great step towards the protection of defenseless beings.
And now what will the development of new drugs be like?
Before, animal testing was required for a drug candidate to be approved by the FDA. While now it is optional and each pharmacist can choose if they want to do it or not.
While the authorities recommend that all companies make use of current technological tools to verify the safety of their projects. There are alternatives like Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer modeling that allow this type of analysis. Although the most important thing is that in all cases animal models are no longer required.
In this way, this paradigm shift could very soon be adopted by health agencies in other parts of the world. In the end, advances in technology have also been decisive in ending animal testing for the development of new drugs.
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