Safer Medicines

16/08/2026

“We want tests and models that can tell us which treatments work, and in what patients, and a mouse cannot tell us that.”

Organoids and tissues grown from human cells promise more accurate results, with £20m Cambridge project to create standardised models

13/08/2026

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When we talk about "human-relevant" science, some people assume we're talking about testing on humans. In reality, it's quite the opposite.

Human-relevant science uses tools based on human biology to better understand how our bodies work and respond to medicines, chemicals or diseases.

These methods include innovative technologies like:

🧠 Organ-on-a-chip systems that mimic how human organs function

🧫 Human cells and tissues – collected from surgeries, blood donations or volunteer biopsies

💻 Computer models that can predict how substances may affect people

By focusing on human biology instead of animal biology, these innovative methods can provide insights that are often more relevant to people—while helping to replace animal testing.

17/07/2026

Rat Trap now available in Italian 👏👏👏

A MUST read for anyone with any interest in medicine, ie all of us!

30/04/2026

The transition away from animal testing represents an advance in scientific thinking and evidence generation. Importantly, phasing out animal testing responsibly will not pose a threat to public safety and is, in fact, anticipated to improve it.

This Perspective reviews the US Food and Drug Administration’s achievements toward eliminating unnecessary animal-based testing and outlines more human-relevant changes for the future.

07/04/2026

A very important petition!

The UK government has agreed a deal with Donald Trump that will see the NHS pay pharma companies much higher drugs prices. But they won’t come clean on how much this agreement will cost the NHS. Estimates suggest that it could cost the NHS £9 billion by 2035 – but so far the government has refu...

03/03/2026

Excellent article about our Alliance for Human Relevant Science meeting in February, which you can now watch on-demand via the Royal Society website or Youtube

Advances in biomedical technology are reshaping how human disease is studied and treated, providing credible alternatives to animal testing

01/03/2026

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Over 7,000 rare diseases affect millions worldwide.

Yet, for most, there’s no effective treatment. Why? Because research often starts with animal models that don’t reflect human biology.

Rare diseases are usually caused by unique human genetic mutations. Animals don’t share these complexities. When scientists “model” them in mice, the symptoms and progression rarely match what patients experience.

Take, for example: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Drugs that worked in mice failed repeatedly in humans. That's a lot of lost money, time, and hope.

The reality is that species differences matter. Animals simply have different immune responses, different gene expression, and different organ systems, which mean treatments that look promising in animals often fail in clinical trials.

Instead, we need research methods that are actually relevant to humans. Patient-derived cells, organ-on-chip systems, and advanced computational models are ethical alternatives that are paving the way for breakthroughs.

This Rare Disease Day, we're calling for more human-relevant research into these conditions!

11/02/2026

Human-focused life sciences are moving from vision to implementation.





Huge thanks to all the brilliant participants 👏

Our 2-day Science+ meeting, co-organised with Professor Geoff Pilkington on behalf of the Alliance for Human Relevant Science, was an exceptional experience. We were deeply honoured to have so many outstanding speakers, panellists and chairs, which made for riveting discussions and new insights for....

06/02/2026

This week we attended 'A Human Focus for 21st Century Life Sciences', hosted by the Alliance for Human Relevant Science and The Royal Society.

The conference brought together leading voices in animal‑free research to showcase cutting‑edge, human‑specific methods for studying major diseases and making drug discovery faster, safer and more effective for patients 💊

Speakers included representatives from the MHRA and FDA, alongside universities and biotech companies from across the globe.

Highlights included:

🎤 An inspiring keynote from our Chair of Trustees, Professor Geoff Pilkington, who also helped organise the event.

🔬 A powerful talk from Professor Lorna Harries from our Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence 2.0 in Exeter, showcasing human‑specific diabetes research that simply wouldn’t be possible using animals.

📊 Insights from Dr Dharaminder Singh, a member of our Scientific Advisory Panel, on the role of human‑relevant methods in policy and regulation.

🏛️ A forward‑looking panel discussion, joined by Steve Race MP, on accelerating the transition to human‑relevant science in academic research and preclinical testing.

The meeting was a powerful and inspiring reminder of how far animal‑free research has come.

It was fantastic to reconnect with familiar faces, share ideas, and leave feeling hopeful and energised about the future of science ✨