Positive news for lab animals in the US!

This month, we got closer to a world without animal testing. 😍

Apr 25, 2025

I’m leading a free co-working call on Tuesday (April 29). If you would like to participate, you can find all the details here.

Hi friend,

As you might know, yesterday was World Day for Laboratory Animals (more about this here).

Which is very fitting because this month has brought highly positive developments for laboratory animals in the US (and, by extension, hopefully the world). So, let’s explore this in more detail

Positive news from US agencies

FDA announces shift away from animal testing

On April 10th, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a significant shift in its approach to animal testing. The FDA plans to phase out or reduce the requirement for animal testing in drug development, particularly for biological products like monoclonal antibodies.

Key elements of this new approach include:

Replacing or reducing animal testing with New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), such as AI-driven computational toxicity models, advanced in vitro assays, organoids (lab-grown human tissue models), and organ-on-a-chip systems that mimic human organs.
Utilizing preexisting real-world human safety data from countries with comparable regulatory standards to support drug approval without additional animal studies.
Incentivizing pharmaceutical companies to submit non-animal test data by offering regulatory relief and potentially expedited review processes, aiming to make animal studies the exception rather than the norm within 3–5 years (!!!). 🥳

If you would like to find out more about NAMs, here’s a description.

According to some reports, EPA recommits to phase out animal testing

According to some reports, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also recommitted to phasing out animal testing for chemicals and pesticides, reviving a 2019 policy that got paused under the Biden administration.

This would include:

Reducing animal testing on mammals by 30% by 2025.
Completely eliminating mammalian animal testing by 2035 (!!!).
Prioritizing NAMs and other non-animal testing methods for chemical safety assessments.

Unlike the official FDA announcement, there appears to be no press release from EPA that confirms these reports. Snopes concluded that “it is not possible to definitively say whether the Trump administration will return to its previous commitment to end mammal testing at the EPA by 2035.”

While it is disappointing that we don’t have an official announcement from EPA confirming these reports, it’s great that we are even talking about it! This makes it easier to advocate for an official announcement/recommitment.

If you want to show your support for phasing out animal testing for chemicals and pesticides, Humane World for Animals has you covered! On their website, they have a form you can use to send a letter to the EPA, stating that you support their commitment to end animal and pesticide testing on animals.

You can find it here.

Do you have a friend who might like to read this? Please consider sharing it with them.

🤗 How you can help animals

It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!

Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time!

💡 If you want to become a more effective vegan advocate, the Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy has you covered (with free courses and communication hacks). 💡

Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:

You can donate to an organization that effectively helps animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators or the Animal Welfare Fund. You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.
You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.
If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.
If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I joined last year and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)