Animal research

2008

• Following the success of the AstraZeneca-led project on acute toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals (described above), a similar approach is now being used to examine the need for acute toxicity tests in other sectors (e.g. veterinary medicines and chemicals used in agriculture).  AstraZeneca is again taking the lead, co-ordinating an acute toxicity team under the umbrella of the European Partnership on Alternative Approaches (EPAA).
• In the US a project is underway to ensure that, wherever possible, tumour tissues from mice used in cancer studies are not discarded, but are collected and stored for further use. The resulting enhanced tissue bank provides our scientists with linked protein, RNA and tissue from a wide range of tumour types, enabling them to make early, rapid, and comprehensive assessments of potential new treatments for cancer, without the need to generate additional tumours in mice. In 2008, samples of 200 different types of tumour were submitted to the bank and 24 different AstraZeneca projects were supported in the US, UK and China, directly sparing up to an estimated 7500 mice that would otherwise have had to be used to generate the tumours. A database linked to the tumour tissue bank also went live in 2008, further increasing its scientific value.  In the future, these benefits are set to increase as more tumour samples are added to the bank and the database of scientific information gained from using them grows.
• AstraZeneca scientists have validated a complex computer-controlled mechanical and chemical model of the upper part of the human digestive system (stomach and small intestine) for use in formulation development (that is, the process of deciding how best to combine new medicines with other ingredients to ensure they can get to where they are needed in the body at the appropriate concentration). At AstraZeneca UK, pioneering use of this simulation, has already helped to cut by 40% the numbers of dogs needed to develop formulations of medicines for cancer, inflammation, infection and cardiovascular disease.

2007

• In 2007, we completed our investment of over £40 million in facilities for housing and care of dogs in the UK and Sweden.  These investments are in line with the most recent scientific consensus on how best to refine dog husbandry in a laboratory setting.  They will provide state-of-the-art kennels, stimulating environments and outdoor playgrounds in which the dogs will be able to socialise with each other and with the staff who care for them.
• We increasingly use non-invasive imaging techniques such as ultrasound and MRI (which are also used for human diagnosis) to study the effects of new medicines on the progress of disease in living animals.  Our scientists have been instrumental in developing an innovative ultrasound method that enables them to “look inside” a mouse’s arteries and follow the effects of potential medicines on the development of atherosclerosis in “real time”, in the same animal, over its whole life.  This method helps to improve the scientific accuracy of the studies, and reduces the number of animals needed to obtain the required data.
• Databases that capture information on the properties of existing medicines and other similar compounds can help scientists to predict, at an early stage, how new compounds are likely to behave in the human body.  This enables earlier, more informed choices about which compounds to take forward for further development – which in turn helps to avoid any unnecessary animal testing on compounds likely to fail.  We use a range of such databases, and in 2007 increased predictive power by rolling out across all sites the most comprehensive pharmacological profiling database currently available – Bioprint®, licensed from Cerep.

2006 

• We use in vitro hepatocytes (liver cell) tests to assess how a compound is eliminated from the body, allowing us to discard unsuitable compounds without the need for animal studies.  We have also developed an automated test for rat hepatocytes, the accuracy of which is proving less variable than the previous manual assay.  These efficiencies mean that at this stage of research, we can test more compounds and make compound selections without the need for animal studies.
• Our use of synthetic animal protein in drug development means that some techniques which required the use of animal tissue have been replaced, and the predictability of the animal studies that we must still do has been improved, leading to the use of fewer animals overall.

2005

• We use leading-edge computer technologies to predict more accurately how a potential medicine may act in the human body (for example, how it will be absorbed and distributed).  This enables elimination of unsuitable compounds early in the discovery process and stops their progression into animal studies.
• New medicines for arthritis aim to relieve pain and improve mobility.  We use a new system of imaging and analysing how an animal with arthritis walks so that we can immediately detect any subtle changes in mobility following treatment.  This is a major welfare improvement as the study is less stressful for the animal and can provide more accurate data using a smaller number of animals.
• A European project, initiated by AstraZeneca, could more than halve the 1.6 million fish used in environmental safety tests in Europe.  Subject to regulatory approval, initial testing of chemicals will be undertaken with algae and water fleas (daphnia) to predict the threshold of toxic concentration.  This will then limit the number of concentrations that need to be tested in fish, and so reduce the numbers used.

The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, February 2009