Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the availability of alternatives to live animals for antibody production; and what steps she is taking to help institutions transition towards the production of antibodies without the use of animals.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in both the UK and internationally which Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals. The various programmes and initiatives funded by the NC3Rs have both identified problems and found innovative solutions through science led approaches.

Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has committed £100 million in research to develop new 3Rs technologies. Of the 414 grants that have been awarded, 69 (£11.4 million) have been for refinement research to improve the welfare of laboratory animals.

The NC3Rs promotes moving to the use of animal-free antibodies and have funded and showcased projects developing animal-free antibody technologies. More information can be found at: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/).

This Government will continue to work with the NC3Rs on how best to utilise its expert advice on the delivery of the 3Rs as part of the regulatory process.