Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies on animal testing of the ability of (a) organ-on-chip, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) advanced use of human cells and tissues to provide human-relevant data on the effects of potential new medicines in whole biological systems.

The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use, we support approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research, and provide human-relevant translatable data, including organ-on-chip, cell-based assays and AI. The impact of individual technical advancements are however a matter for individual regulators to consider, and the Government strategy will help facilitate the inclusion and adoption of alternative methods in these regulatory contexts.