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<p>The use of animals in research is carefully regulated and remains important in
ensuring new medicines and treatments are safe. At the same time, the Government
believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative
and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques
that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is
achieved primarily through funding for the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works
nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure
that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal
research. Across the UK, the NC3Rs has invested £71 million in research through grants to
universities, and almost £28 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges
innovation scheme to UK and EU-based institutions, mainly focusing on new approaches
for the safety assessment of pharmaceuticals and chemicals that reduce the use of
animals.</p><p> </p><p>UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a portfolio of research
projects involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies.
At this time, no artificial model or simulation can replicate the complexity of disease
processes in a living organism and as such, whole organism approaches continue to
be important; animal models are used when experimentation in human volunteers is not
possible for safety or ethical reasons. However, we do recognise the increasing value
of <em>in vitro</em> and <em>in silico</em> models, including organs-on-chips and
3-dimensional mini-brains, which can greatly aid the development of new healthcare
innovations and also reduce, refine or replace the use of animals in research.</p><p
/><p>The Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UKRI, has for a number of years prioritised
experimental medicine research, in which studies are undertaken in humans to identify
disease mechanisms and provide early evidence and validity of new discoveries or treatments.
In order to accelerate progress in this area a vision for a new Precision Medicine
Accelerator (PMA) was approved by MRC in December 2019. The first step of the PMA,
a new Experimental Medicine Panel, has been launched to fund academic-led, interventional
clinical studies in humans.</p>
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