The Rethink project brought together industry, government and academia to assess the validity of minipigs as an alternative approach in toxicity testing. In particular, the project looked at how minipigs can contribute to the replacement, refinement and reduction of animal testing (3Rs).
Findings from the project, including 20 recommendations for further research, have been published in a series of papers in the Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods.
“All that we saw convinced us that the minipig has a very useful role to play in safety testing and it probably provides better prediction of drug safety for patients than traditional models such as rats and dogs”, said Roy Forster, project coordinator and chief scientific officer at CIT.
The researchers conclude minipigs have a relatively favourable 3Rs profile. This is achieved because minipigs: are easier to keep to a good standard of welfare than dogs or non-human primates; are needed in smaller numbers; and can be sourced within the European Union (EU).
Also, minipigs offer a greater knowledge-base for genomics, genetic manipulation and immunology. This could potentially be used to generate more data from fewer animals or develop more relevant models for the evaluation of safety.
“In terms of animal welfare, we were able to show significant 3Rs benefits in comparison with the use of other large animal species”, said Forster.
Furthermore, there are no welfare restrictions to the use of minipigs in toxicology and the model is generally acceptable to regulatory authorities, providing the decision is adequately justified.
To ensure most effective use is made of minipigs the researchers believe clear information is needed about the model’s predictivity and its role in testing of biologics.