Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the 2020 EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing's recommendation on non-animal derived antibodies.

The Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals In Research is leading work to accelerate uptake of non-animal derived antibodies (NADA), in collaboration with members of the EU Reference Laboratory Committee for animal testing alternatives that developed the NADA recommendation. In 2021, in response to the recommendation, the Animals in Science Committee reviewed antibody licence applications to assess how 3Rs are being implemented.

The Government will publish a strategy later this year to support the development, validation, and adoption of alternative methods, which will set out any targets to phase out specific uses of animal testing.