Emergent's animal testing questioned: Lansing company worst offender in nation, group says

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Emergent's animal testing questioned: Lansing company worst offender in nation, group says
Written by Barbara Wieland
10 Feb 2011

An animal rights activist group claims an Emergent BioSolutions Inc. laboratory in Lansing is subjecting more test animals to painful experiments without using pain medications than any other facility in the nation.

Stop Animal Exploitation Now, or SAEN, claims the lab is using thousands of guinea pigs in live testing. The Lansing operation makes the country's only federally approved anthrax vaccine. It employs about 400 locally.

While not illegal, the group questioned the need to use the animals and said it wanted to make the public aware of their suffering.

Emergent officials in Lansing said they plan to curtail the use of animals once the government allows the company to do so - something the company said had been planned before the report.

"We continuously evaluate and coordinate with government agencies on steps that could improve our best practices," company spokesman Mark Alley said in a statement. "Toward this end, we have submitted an application to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to modify protocols to reduce the number of animals used in testing."

SAEN said its study, based on U.S. Department of Agriculture reports on facilities nationwide, showed Emergent used 13,692 guinea pigs in live testing in 2009, the last year for which numbers were available. Of those, 7,687 guinea pigs were used in experiments that inflicted pain or distress on the animal without the use of pain killers or tranquilizers.

In some tests, guinea pigs lost the ability to move parts of their bodies and two were euthanized after they lost a large amount of weight. Others were allowed to die as part of the research.

SAEN said Emergent's Lansing lab used more animals in tests that inflicted pain but withheld pain-killing medication than any other lab in the nation. In its government filings, Emergent said the tests were performed to evaluate new drugs, test drug delivery methods and potency and comply with testing required for FDA-licensed products.

In its government filing, Emergent said it withheld pain treatment for several reasons. In most cases, it said that the use of a painkiller would have altered test results.

"Appropriate (pain) treatment would consist of medications that would alter the natural disease process of the challenge organism, therefore nullifying the purpose of the test," Emergent's report said.

The treatment of animals in laboratories is regulated under the federal Animal Welfare Act, which requires labs to file reports annually. When pain or distress is inflicted on an animal, the lab has to explain why the test was performed and justify withholding pain treatment.

Nonetheless, SAEN Executive Director Michael Budkie said Lansing residents should be aware of the research. He said his group's study was meant to raise awareness.

"(The guinea pigs) undergo extreme suffering and we believe the public has a right to know this," he said. "Many of the procedures ... are being done either with taxpayer money or for projects that will be used by general public."

He also questioned the value of the guinea pig studies.

"You can't pretend that a guinea pig is a little human being in a fur coat," he said. "What helps or harms a guinea pig might not do the same thing to human beings."

Emergent's Alley said in a statement the company takes the treatment of lab animals seriously and pointed to the Lansing operation's accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. The AAALAC nonprofit organization promotes the humane treatment of animals in science.

"Appropriate (pain) treatment would consist of medications that would alter the natural disease process of the challenge organism, therefore nullifying the purpose of the test," Emergent's report said.

The treatment of animals in laboratories is regulated under the federal Animal Welfare Act, which requires labs to file reports annually. When pain or distress is inflicted on an animal, the lab has to explain why the test was performed and justify withholding pain treatment.

Nonetheless, SAEN Executive Director Michael Budkie said Lansing residents should be aware of the research. He said his group's study was meant to raise awareness.

"(The guinea pigs) undergo extreme suffering and we believe the public has a right to know this," he said. "Many of the procedures ... are being done either with taxpayer money or for projects that will be used by general public."

He also questioned the value of the guinea pig studies.

"You can't pretend that a guinea pig is a little human being in a fur coat," he said. "What helps or harms a guinea pig might not do the same thing to human beings."

Emergent's Alley said in a statement the company takes the treatment of lab animals seriously and pointed to the Lansing operation's accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. The AAALAC nonprofit organization promotes the humane treatment of animals in science.

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