In April, we introduced you to Richard Miller, Ph.D., NAVS science adviser and emeritus professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who will occasionally share his insights from within the research and medical fields with you while working with NAVS to build a future where animals are not used as lab equipment. NAVS recently spoke with Dr. Miller about the recent wave of federal agencies moving toward humane research methods.
For decades, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required drug developers to prove that their products are both safe and effective, largely through the use of animal testing. Finally, momentum is rapidly building behind a new, more ethical and scientifically advanced way of developing medicine that may finally leave animal testing in the past.
The long-standing reliance on animals in drug development has raised serious concerns—not just ethical ones, but scientific ones as well. Mice and dogs, the mainstays of laboratory research, are not small humans. Their biological differences often yield results that are unreliable, even dangerous, when extrapolated to people. Compounding the issue is the use of inbred animal lines, which fail to reflect the vast genetic diversity of the human population, a critical factor in determining how a drug performs across different individuals.
“Tests performed on mice or dogs often give misleading information when trying to assess the potential therapeutic value and safety of a new drug for human use,” said Dr. Miller. “It was my personal first-hand experiences that made me reject this way of doing things and become an anti-vivisectionist.”
For years, the dominant narrative was that there were simply no viable alternatives to animal testing. But that’s no longer the case. Since the turn of the 21st century, a scientific revolution has been quietly reshaping the way we understand human biology. Breakthrough technologies, such as human stem cell models, organoids, assembloids, and organs-on-a-chip, are now enabling researchers to study diseases and test new drugs using models that reflect human biology far more accurately than any mouse, dog, or other animal ever could.
“The sophistication of these methods is increasing amazingly quickly,” Dr. Miller noted. “Very recently, a paper was published in the journal Nature showing that the entire human nervous system responsible for mediating pain can be constructed from human stem cells in a dish. That points the way toward animal-free testing of new analgesic drugs in the future.”
On April 10, 2025, the federal government took a significant step in this new direction. In a landmark announcement, the FDA declared that it would begin to phase out requirements for animal-based evidence in new drug applications. Instead, human-based research technologies will take center stage.
This policy shift marks one of the most consequential changes in biomedical research in a generation. It will influence not only pharmaceutical companies but also the direction of publicly funded research in academic settings.
“If the government favors a move away from animal research,” Dr. Miller explained, “scientists at universities will start to move in the same direction if they want to obtain funding from the grant-giving bodies like the National Institutes for Health.”
Such a transition could result in a significant reduction in the number of animals used in laboratories—something Americans across the political spectrum can agree on. Improving how animals are treated is a rare unifier in today’s polarized climate. Regardless of which party holds power, the shift away from animal research is likely to continue.
“Science is one of the most important of human cultural endeavors,” said Dr. Miller. “We need the government to adequately fund medical research. However, these funds need to be put to good use. The cutting edge of science is moving away from animal-based research, and that is very good news.”
With bipartisan support, scientific innovation, and public sentiment all moving in the same direction, the end of animal testing in drug development is no longer just a hope; it’s a reality in the making.
