FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 29, 2022
Contact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) and Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) bipartisan FDA Modernization Act 2.0 to end animal testing mandates.
This legislation ends an outdated FDA mandate that experimental drugs must be tested on animals before they are used on humans in clinical trials. The bill doesn’t ban animal testing outright but would allow the option for drug sponsors to use alternative methods where they are suitable.
The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (D-ME), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Rick Scott (R-FL). The bill will now head to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 will accelerate innovation and get safer, more effective drugs to market more quickly by cutting red tape that is not supported by current science, and I’m proud to have led the charge. The passage of this bipartisan bill is a step toward ending the needless suffering and death of animal test subjects – which I’m glad both Republicans and Democrats can agree needs to end,” said Dr. Paul.
“Lawmakers from both parties recognize that the United States must lift an archaic animal-testing mandate for drug development and replace that strategy with 21st-century methods grounded on human biology,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “This is the biggest policy development in Congressional history on the fight to replace animal testing with morally and scientifically superior methods.”
Ahead of the bill passing in the Senate by unanimous consent, Dr. Paul spoke on the Senate floor. You can watch his full remarks HERE.
Background:
In 1938, Congress passed the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, mandating animal toxicity testing. Since then, science and data has shown that in some products, animal testing is a highly inconsistent predictor of toxic responses in humans, all while animal testing on any single pharmaceutical product often requires killing hundreds of animal test subjects.
Last October, Dr. Rand Paul and Sen. Cory Booker introduced the first FDA Modernization Act, and in the spirit of the bill, Dr. Paul hosted a Puppy Press Conference.
You can read the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 HERE.
###