EU initiatives to reduce animal testing

The European Union is advancing efforts to reduce reliance on animal testing through regulatory initiatives and shifting research methodologies. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched the Voluntary Data Submission (VDS) pilot program to encourage the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). This program promotes alternatives such as organoids, microphysiological systems, and computational models to provide data that may be ‘comparable to, or even superior to’ current animal testing approaches.

In Germany, reports indicate that the number of animals used in laboratory testing has declined for five consecutive years. However, significant figures remain: in 2024, more than 1.3 million animals—primarily mice, rats, fish, and rabbits—were used in testing. Additionally, approximately 670,000 animals were killed for scientific purposes, such as organ examination, and 1.6 million surplus animals bred for research were killed without being used. In response to these figures, advocacy groups and medical professionals are calling for increased government efforts to reduce animal testing.

Complementing these developments, the European Commission has introduced a roadmap to gradually phase out animal testing in specific sectors, particularly for chemical safety assessments. The EU aims to replace traditional in vivo methods with non-animal alternatives, such as in vitro systems, which allow researchers to assess hazard potential by comparing new substances against known chemicals without using living organisms.