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How Animal Free Research UK is responding to the coronavirus pandemic

This year Animal Free Research UK (formerly Dr Hadwen Trust) celebrates 50 years as the UK’s leading medical research charity working to create a world where human diseases are cured faster, and without animal suffering. Since 1970, the charity has awarded £10 million in grants to over 260 medical research projects, advancing the development of human-relevant research for diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and even Covid-19. This pandemic has taught us valuable lessons in resilience, collaboration and adaptation – all of which Animal Free Research UK applies to its work.

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Human-relevant solutions

As the lockdown was announced in March, Animal Free Research UK created a Rapid Response Fund to support animal-free research for Covid-19 related projects in search for human-relevant solutions to the pandemic. One of them – a novel testing kit – is making significant progress in determining whether people who have the virus are infectious. It is animal-free because it replaces the use of proteins from bovine blood serum with a synthetic equivalent.

The test quantifies the presence of active viral particles, as opposed to simply detecting inactive, non-infectious ones. Its development is underway at the University of Exeter in collaboration with local NHS and clinical facilities to ensure it provides an accurate and faster reading at patients’ bedsides, and to predict the outcome on an individual basis.

Most importantly, Animal Free Research UK’s approach in dealing with the pandemic is to transform the way medical science progresses in the future. A new agenda for change is emerging that is galvanising decision makers to reconsider business as usual. Prioritising human-relevant approaches is the way forward, whether in search of effective testing, innovative treatment or a life-saving vaccine.

Sadly, countless animals are suffering in Covid-19 related research, but there is a glimmer of hope. Given the urgency of the crisis, for the first time trials of potential vaccines were fast-tracked to humans in parallel with animal tests to save human lives faster. With 90% of new drugs that have proved promising in animal tests failing in human trials, this sets a powerful precedent and the first step away from outdated reliance on animal experiments.

A golden opportunity

This global emergency has forced pharma and regulators to reconsider what is truly necessary to deliver safe and effective health solutions as quickly as possible. Traditional animal tests are too slow and unlikely to meet the ambitious goal of a vaccine or treatment within a year. For Animal Free Research UK and its supporters, this is a golden opportunity to transform medical research to save animals from suffering and achieve medical breakthroughs more quickly.

Visit animalfreeresearchuk.org to learn more.

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