Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what proportion of funding for UK BioBank will be allocated to (a) developing non-animal methods of testing and (b) phasing out animal testing.

Genomics England, Our Future Health and UK Biobank contribute important human data to the UK’s diverse research portfolio that supports alternative method development, including organ-on-a-chip, cell-based assays, functional genomics and computer modelling. The Health Data Research Service will also contribute in future, However, this research is not categorised by application, so calculating funding for alternative methods specifically is not possible. UKRI also invests £10 million annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), with future investment under review.

The Government will publish a strategy to support alternative methods later this year.