Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with international partners to change International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use policy to allow results from non-animal methods of pharmaceutical testing to be used to support drug safety through pre-clinical trials.

The Government has committed to work towards phasing out of animal testing, including supporting the development and testing of new medicines.

The Government is working with pharmaceutical industry partners and through our medicines regulatory agency (MHRA) to understand the international drivers and challenges to integrating non-animal methods into regulatory safety testing. We are engaging with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who represent the UK at the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use on how to accelerate the acceptance of data generated in non-animal methods for drug safety decision making.