3Rs - Replacement, Reduction and Refinement

The UCB guidelines for animal testing are aligned with the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) principles of Russell and Burch. These principles work towards good laboratory animal welfare and, as much as possible replacing, refining and reducing the need for in vivo experimentation.  

Where appropriate, UCB employs a range of alternative and complementary techniques such as in vitro cell and tissue studies, or non invasive methods such as radio telemetry.  UCB is also adopting a weight of evidence approach when the number of animals used in experiment can be reduced or when computer modeling of data can make predictions.

In this context, UCB is actively involved in an EFPIA working group on animal welfare and research aiming to develop comprehensive 3R-metrics.

UCB’s overarching philosophy is to provide high quality data generated from well-designed animal experiments where the stress and discomfort that animals may experience is minimised.