Government Committee Examines Chimpanzee Experiments

Chimpanzees are not needed to test vaccines, develop drugs, or advance biodefense research, according to numerous scientists testifying this August before an Institute of Medicine committee meeting on the necessity of chimpanzee experiments. The panel was convened at the request of the National Institutes of Health to determine whether chimpanzees are needed for medical research.

GlaxoSmithKline and Genentech representatives at the meeting said both companies develop drugs without using chimpanzees. Similarly, a hepatitis C treatment from Vertex was recently approved without the use of chimpanzees.

PCRM’s own experts testified about the scientific and ethical problems with using chimpanzees in invasive experiments. Primatologist Jane Goodall also objected to the use of these highly social animals in experiments.

The Institute of Medicine committee will issue its report later this year that will affect the future of the more than 1,000 chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories