PETITION TARGETS: Senate Majority Leader John Thune
Vulnerable long-tailed macaques endured repeated injections over six months and were restrained without sedation during most measurements as part of a toxicity study for a kidney-disease drug, according to FDA records.
Sadly, two macaques did not survive the study: one was euthanized after vomiting, turning pale, and becoming less active, while another died from fight-related injuries during the recovery period.
Now, the U.S. Senate could help reduce reliance on experiments like these by passing the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (S. 355/H.R. 2821).
This legislation, which has already passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, is designed to implement the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, a reform that removed the animal-specific testing requirement for investigational drugs and recognized organ chips, computer modeling, and other non-animal approaches as options for nonclinical testing.
If enacted, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 would require the FDA to replace animal-specific references with broader “nonclinical” references in regulations covering investigational new drug applications, bringing those rules into line with the law and clarifying that non-animal approaches may be used.
Animals confined in laboratories often endure isolation, distress, and painful procedures before being killed when they are no longer deemed useful — and passing this bill could mark a major step toward reducing that suffering while helping advance modern testing alternatives that may better predict how drugs will affect humans.
Sign our petition urging Senate leadership to back the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 and help spare countless animals in the U.S. from cruel and unnecessary experiments.
