EU Project Aims To Boost Drug Testing Reliability By Replacing Monkeys With Pigs

A new EU public-private initiative is developing tools to help clarify when mini- and micropig models can be used as viable alternatives to non-human primates in non-clinical drug safety testing.

The Göttingen minipig is a breed of small swine, (Sus scrofa domestica.) View of a mini pig in its enclosure.
Pigs are better suited to laboratory conditions than non-human primates (Shutterstock)
Key Takeaways
  • The EU’s NHPig initiative aims to transform the non-clinical safety assessment of drugs by replacing the use of non-human primates (NHPs) with mini- and micropigs.

An ambitious EU initiative is making good progress towards developing new methods and technologies to reduce the use of non-human...

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