As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, in compliance with regulatory and legal requirements we are obliged to perform animal tests to prove the quality, efficacy and safety of our products prior to clinical testing. International and national laws govern the type and scope of the data to be submitted to the authorities. Animal tests are justified by the obligation to save human lives and alleviate human suffering. As a sign of compliance with the strictest animal protection standards, in June 2010 we attained full AAALAC accreditation for our research center in Geneva and in February 2011 for our Institute of Toxicology in Darmstadt; further accreditations at other sites are being prepared and are expected in the next few years.
For our chemicals, the EU chemicals regulation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) that came into force in 2007 specifies that all substances manufactured in or imported to the EU must be registered and evaluated in accordance with certain requirements. Depending on the amount of chemicals in question, this includes animal tests to determine the risk potential. Also in our own interest, we reduce the number of animal tests to a minimum by cooperating with other manufacturers, importers and users. We also participate in the Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) to share data and jointly register substances.
Merck Millipore does not perform animal tests itself, but relies on animals to produce antibodies. In this process, standards are complied with to prevent stress and pain for the animals. Merck Millipore works continuously to minimize the number of animals used.
