Sanofi Prohibits Use of Animals in Deadly Sales Rep Trainings

After PETA Shares Evidence of Cruel Animal Labs, Company Confirms Animal-Free Training Policy

For Immediate Release:
February 8, 2017

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Following an appeal from PETA, multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company and medical-device maker Sanofi has pledged not to use animals in laboratory training sessions for sales personnel.

The decision comes after PETA uncovered evidence that the company was apparently using live animals to demonstrate invasive medical-device procedures for sales representatives—an exercise that typically involves cutting open and killing animals such as pigs. Sanofi joins a growing list of companies and institutions—including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Cleveland Clinic, and others—that have confirmed an end to this practice after talks with PETA.

“No animal should be cut open and killed for any reason—and certainly not to train sales staff,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. “PETA applauds Sanofi’s commitment not to use animals in these deadly procedures.”

PETA notes that superior, non-animal training methods are now widely used throughout the medical products industry. These methods include advanced human-patient simulators, “living” human-cadaver models, and synthetic soft-tissue models.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.