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Thursday, January 27, 2005
A three-year sponsorship of a new scientific post at the Government’s National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) that demonstrates the pharmaceutical industry’s continued commitment to the centre’s objectives has been announced by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
While the industry is providing the sponsorship, the holder of
the post will be a full employee of the centre and report to its
chief executive.
UK-based pharmaceutical companies currently spend around £300 million a year on technologies that have directly or indirectly replaced the use of animals in medicines research, and warmly welcomed the Government’s announcement last year of the establishment of the NC3Rs.
“The ABPI fully supports the concept of reducing, refining and replacing the use of animals in medicines research – it is not only a question of being humane but it also ensures high quality research and makes good business sense to reduce costs,” said Dr Philip Wright, the ABPI’s Director of Science and Technology.
The industry’s sponsorship of the new post was also welcomed by NC3Rs Chief Executive Dr Vicky Robinson, who said: “It is clearly important that the centre works closely with the pharmaceutical industry to progress the 3Rs, and this new post will help us to achieve that objective.”
The initial primary objectives of the new job are to:
- Provide a focus on pharmaceutical issues within NC3Rs.
- Establish a database of current 3Rs activities within the pharmaceutical
sector.
- Conduct an analysis of further opportunities for 3Rs.
- Establish ways of sharing best practice between academia and
the commercial sectors.
- Develop proposals for new research to support industry objectives
in the 3Rs and to communicate these to other NC3Rs stakeholders.
Companies participating in the post’s sponsorship are GlaxoSmithKline, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Huntingdon Life Sciences and Sanofi-Aventis.
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