VICTORY! Pharma Giant Sanofi Drops Near-Drowning Tests on Animals After PETA Campaign

For Immediate Release:
September 26, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Bridgewater, N.J. –

In another major win for animals, pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, a Paris-based drugmaker with U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey, has confirmed that it no longer subjects animals to the cruel and useless forced swim test. The exciting announcement follows a campaign by PETA entities worldwide and more than 440,000 e-mails from members and supporters.

“Sanofi does not use the Porsolt swim test. We have no research projects that involve the use of this test and have no plans for this test to be used in the future, either in-house or at a contract research partner,” a statement on Sanofi’s website maintains.

In the forced swim test, also known as the “behavioral despair test,” experimenters dose mice, hamsters, or other small animals with a test substance, place them in inescapable beakers of water, and force them to swim to keep from drowning, supposedly to shed light on human depression. Numerous scientists have debunked this test as a poor model of depression—and using it could even rule out new drugs that may be effective in humans.

Sanofi used at least 1,500 animals in the forced swim test between 1995 and 2021.

A 'Drowning Mouse' Protests Forced Swim Test

PETA UK supporters demand that the Home Office abolish the forced swim test.

A PETA “drowning mouse” protests the forced swim test. Credit: PETA

“Terrorizing tiny animals in a scientifically debunked experiment does nothing to advance the treatment of depression in humans,” says PETA neuroscientist Dr. Emily Trunnell. “PETA applauds Sanofi for backing good science and dropping this horrifically cruel test.”

Sanofi joins numerous other companies that have banned the test after hearing from PETA—including Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, Roche, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk A/S, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.