Only one or two of every ten drug candidates discovered in the lab succeed in human trials. Many of the rest looked safe in animals first. That gap is why the US, UK, EU and China are investing in human-relevant testing: organoids, organs-on-chips and computer models, known as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). India had been moving the same way. It banned cosmetics testing on animals in 2014, accepted non-animal methods in its drug rules in 2023, and has funded 109 NAM projects across 71 institutes. The Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) has now proposed draft rules for lab animals, which look regressive.
In the latest episode of All Things Policy, Malathi Renati speaks with Dr Surat Parvatam, cell biologist and Senior Program Director, Research and Toxicology at Humane World for Animals India. We discuss the draft changes, why they matter for scientific credibility, and where India could lead.
All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
Find out more on our research and other work here: https://takshashila.org.in/research-areas
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