Given the general furor against the use of animals in testing of pharmacy and beauty products on the rise, the tag ‘cruelty-free’ means a lot for pharmacy companies. Major pharmacy and lifestyle companies are seeking cover under the tag on account of both, public and government pressure, and it is time for the country’s entrepreneurs to make use of this phenomenal shift to alternatives of animal testing.
India is a hotbed of health and life-style products in the fields of production, testing, or consumption. The extent of cruelty that the animals are subjected to during serous tests done for the benefit human race has left has now under laws or guidelines in countries that have banned or partially banned the use of animals in experiments. One such law that is lid to dry up the collective pharmacy being business in India is the par-Ban by the European Union on promotion and marketing of all cosmetic ducts involving animal testing by testing methods are available or not. These products can be marketed in the EU till 2013, after which a complete ban will be put in place. And this gives birth to cruelty-free concept.
In the spotlessly shinning new-age laboratories of the world’s leading educational institutions and companies dispensing healthcare and beauty products. The so-called guinea pigs range from guinea pigs to rabbits, cats, dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees. The suffering and pain inflicted on the animals is horrendous. Medicines on which rats have survived have proved lethal. Ban has been called by the European Union on production and feting of all cosmetic products involving animal testing by 2009, irrespective of whether alternative non-animal testing methods are available. The issue has gained wide publicity, by campaigns by organizations such as People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), People for Animals, and personalities such as Menaka Gandhi. Companies are falling over one another to claim that their products are ‘cruelty-free.’
There is one big question that if you don’t test on animals what do you test them on? The alternatives are computer programs that simulate the functions of a live animal or a plant tissue that can mimic the reactions produced by animal organs and human tissues to produce the actual results. These alternatives are not only non-violent, but are much more reliable, efficient, faster, and cost-effective; to the extent that you are left wondering why animals have been used in the first place.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Army is now using Topkat, a computer program that is used to determine the irritation and toxicity levels of new drugs. There are several other such mathematical and computer models that incorporate various reactions of the human body to certain ailments. There are computerized virtual organs available to test the absorption and metabolism patterns of a drug on a particular to man organ before testing it on an actual person.
Lately, millions were spent the world on CROs specializing in the testing of new drugs using such alternatives. Given the skills of the Indian work force in computational biology human engineering, there is no reason why CROs already working in the arena of drug testing cannot develop own computer simulations or tissues for drug testing. Such alternatives will definitely make the brands cruelty free.