PETA Commends FDA Plan to Phase Out Animal Testing
UPDATE (December 3, 2025): After years of persuasion, evidence sharing, and recent meetings with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, PETA commends the agency’s proposal that recommends pharmaceutical developers no longer use the primates, dogs, and pigs who have been routinely killed in certain antibody tests to meet FDA requirements.
A specific category of drugs—monoclonal antibodies—is the starting point for this new approach. Testing a single antibody drug typically uses more than 100 endangered macaque monkeys. FDA’s recommendation to replace these tests would be a step in the right direction, and PETA scientists are working to help ensure the FDA receives the necessary support for this proposal to succeed.
The FDA has invited the entire industry to actively bring their animal replacement approaches forward. Every pharmaceutical manufacturer can now seize this opportunity to replace these deadly animal tests with more human-relevant, non-animal approaches.
As a developer of a candidate therapeutic monoclonal antibody that has suggested these and other animal replacement opportunities to the FDA, PETA scientists are happy to support the FDA and any pharmaceutical manufacturer in need of assistance in rising to the agency’s challenge!
What You Can Do
The FDA’s announcement is a lifeline for endangered monkeys and other animals, but we must maintain momentum. Please TAKE ACTION below to demand that the FDA support more animal-free science and stop pushing companies to conduct tests on animals for sunscreens.
Originally published April 11, 2025:
When PETA Science Consortium International funded the development of non-animal antibodies intended to treat a potentially deadly bacterial infection, PETA scientists set an unprecedented goal—to begin human clinical trials without killing any animals.
That ambitious goal is not just a dream but could become a reality!
In a recent news release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the agency would move to replace tests on animals in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs with more effective, human-relevant methods. This policy change could save thousands of animals each year from dying inside laboratories in tests irrelevant to human health, inspiring a new era of ethical science.
“By leveraging AI-based computational modeling, human organ model-based lab testing, and real-world human data, we can get safer treatments to patients faster and more reliably, while also reducing [research and development] costs and drug prices. It is a win-win for public health and ethics,” stated FDA Commissioner Martin Makary.
In the U.S., new drugs are extensively tested on animals, but PETA scientists devised a plan to verify the safety of its antibody treatment using non-animal, human-relevant techniques. In a 2022 meeting, the FDA stated that the proposed non-animal testing strategy is reasonable. Since then, PETA scientists have brought the same plan to government agencies around the world, and in every case, the agencies echoed the FDA’s opinion. PETA scientists are ready to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the FDA’s planned phase-out, and to set a precedent that could change pharmaceutical testing as we know it. Drug developers will now see the possibility of prioritizing modern, non-animal data over tests on animals.
What You Can Do
PETA scientists applaud the FDA’s significant step towards phasing out testing requirements on animals and will continue to push for policies that are best for all living beings. Right now, your support is crucial! Urge the FDA to do right by animals and millions of consumers—tell the FDA to stop pushing companies to conduct tests on animals for sunscreens that have been safely on the market for decades.
