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Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control

Confidence in biological medicines

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  • Number and type of animals

Number and type of animals 

To support our mission to improve and protect public health, some of our work requires the use of animals. We follow the principles of the 3Rs that aim to replace, reduce, and refine animal use, and animals are only used when an appropriate alternative cannot be found.

Number of animals used

The below table provides information on the number and type of animals used from 2014 to 2024.

Year

Mice

Rats

Guinea Pigs

Rabbits

Ferrets

Non-human primates (NHPs)

Sheep

Turkeys

Alpacas           

Hamsters

Total

2024

3068 360 25 0 12 0 23 12 0 0 3500

2023

2881

360

184

0

0

4

23

13

0

53

3618

2022

3053

600

31

0

2

35

19

11

0

166

3917

2021

4559

1703

0

2

2

18

31

11

0

224

6550

2020

5042

760

32

10

2

33

35

11

2

30

5957

2019

9099

1254

32

3

20

25

27

12

0

0

10472

2018

8130

880

28

0

36

28

19

10

2

0

9133

2017

8990

245

60

0

104

20

13

12

2

0

9446

2016

8924

760

334

0

80

8

20

11

0

0

10137

2015

8353

2638

366

21

77

11

30

7

0

0

11503

2014

12304

1935

236

46

97

28

27

10

0

0

14683

These figures are submitted to the Home Office, which publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in scientific research in Great Britain. The Home Office generally publishes their data for the previous year in July.

Type of animals used

When designing a study, scientists aim to select the most clinically relevant type of animal, so it might experience the same illnesses or respond in a similar way to infection as humans.  This guarantees that the results of each study performed in our laboratories provides the most value to global health. 

Our work mostly involves small rodents and in 2024 over 97% of animals used were mice and rats. Mice and rats are often used to test the safety and efficacy of vaccines before they are used in global immunisation programmes. These tests are legally required before a medicine can be released onto the market and used in humans. 

For some programmes of work, mice and rats are not suitable and larger animals may need to be used. For example, ferrets, sheep, and turkeys are important in supporting the global production of flu vaccines as they are used to prepare vital biological materials used by manufacturers and control laboratories. In doing so, we are supporting the availability of flu vaccines in the Northern and Southern hemisphere winters to protect people from the ever-changing and often life-threatening flu virus. 

The use of non-human primates, such as macaques and tamarins, is only undertaken when there is no other valid alternative. Non-human primates are used to support some of our essential research into complex and deadly viruses such as Zika and more recently the Chikungunya virus infection. 

Reasons why the numbers of some animal species used differ over time 

The number of animals used may increase or decrease year on year, depending upon the vaccine or standards development work undertaken, or influenced by the specific timings, requirements, and volume of preclinical studies conducted. For example, the animal figures are affected by the duration of the study, and the different phases such as whether it’s an ongoing investigation or initial recruitment into new studies right through to the completion and reporting of the final study results. 

Overall, in the last 10 years to 2024, our total animal usage in our studies has reduced by over 76%. Some fluctuations in this downward trend in numbers used reflect public health challenges such as COVID, in which hamsters are widely used as a model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, immune responses and the development of vaccines, or when there are intense periods of testing of certain products. Similarly, the inevitable changes to scientific priorities and the ways of working during the COVID pandemic have reflected in our usage. Sometimes, we provide mice to other accredited scientific sites, to enable them to conduct their own training and animal research.

Replacing, reducing, and refining animal use (the 3Rs principles) 

We are committed to reducing, replacing, and refining animal use in our scientific and research programmes.  

Our scientists develop non-animal tests to check the quality and safety of biological medicines and provide evidence and advice to encourage their use by organisations worldwide.  

Find out more about our work to replace, reduce and refine animal use. 

 
 
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