Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in obtaining the full validation of the Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) initiative to predict the proarrhythmic potential of new drugs.

The strategy has not committed to obtaining the full validation of the Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) initiative to predict the proarrhythmic potential of new drugs.Basket 2 of the strategy outlines long‑term ambitions which must be science‑led, partnership‑based, and delivered over time.The strategy aims to use validated alternative methods to reduce the use of dogs and non-human primates in dedicated Pharmacokinetic studies for human medicines by at least 35% by 2030.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress her Department has made in (a) developing AI prediction tools and (b) obtaining kinetic data from combining tests with general toxicity testing.

This is an area of extensive effort across industry and stakeholders. NC3Rs are funding development of a virtual dog to replace dogs in second species testing (Virtual Second Species Innovation Platform). We continue working with partners to develop resources to expand these efforts.The strategy has not committed to obtaining kinetic data. Basket 2 sets out long‑term ambitions that must be science‑led, partnership‑based and delivered over time.The strategy aims to use validated alternative methods to reduce use of dogs and non‑human primates in dedicated Pharmacokinetic studies for human medicines by at least 35% by 2030.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on applying only validated alternative methods for pharmacopoeial pyrogen testing.

Rabbit pyrogen tests were removed from the British Pharmacopeia in 2025 under this Government, meaning that no rabbit pyrogenicity testing should now be conducted in the UK for any pharmacopoeial pyrogen testing purposes. International (ISO) standards for medical devices may require the use of rabbit pyrogen testing for market authorisation for non-UK markets. Where this is the case Prospective Authorisation would need to be granted by the Home Office, no such tests were carried out in 2025. We are working with the Home Office to ensure that no new licences are approved that include the use of the rabbit pyrogen tests where validated alternatives are available.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in reducing animal use in cardiovascular safety studies.

Basket 2 of the strategy outlines long‑term ambitions which must be science‑led, partnership‑based, and delivered over time.Innovate UK in partnership with NC3Rs launched a funding call supporting the development and commercialisation of alternative methods for assessing the preclinical cardiovascular safety of new medicines: Contracts for Innovation: industrial human relevant drug models – UKRI. This follows work led by IUK and NC3Rs to build a community around this opportunity. https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/contracts-for-innovation-industrial-human-relevant-drug-models/The strategy aims to use validated alternative methods to reduce the use of non‑human primates and dogs in dedicated cardiovascular safety studies by at least 50% by 2030.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 15 April 2026 to question 125651 on Animal Experiments, which Ministers sit on the Ministerial Board overseeing delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy.

The Ministerial Board overseeing delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy is chaired by Lord Vallance. Its membership includes Baroness Hayman, Parliamentary Under‑Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Lord Hanson, Minister of State at the Home Office.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing challenge-led innovation funding schemes to deliver alternative methods priorities for a) development and b) validation.

The commitments to increase investment and expand challenge led innovation for alternative methods are being led by UKRI.The Strategy was supported by £75m of funding and commits to increasing investment in alternative methods. UKRI has been in discussion to consider the most effective delivery approach and £20 million of increased funding is already available through the Pre‑clinical Translational Models Hub funding call, launched in March 2026. In addition, Innovate UK launched a £2 million Contracts for Innovation competition in February 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on awarding the first round of Validation Accelerator grants.

The Validation Accelerator grant commitment is being led by UKRI and will be delivered through a number of mechanisms, For example, Innovate UK’s £2 million Contracts for Innovation: Industrial Human‑Relevant Drug Models competition, launched in February 2026, supports the development and commercialisation of non‑animal methods to assess the pre‑clinical pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular safety of new medicines.Validation Accelerators will be coordinated by the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM), once it is established. £30 million has been allocated to support its establishment and delivery.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on creating a publicly available dashboard of progress against key deliverables.

The Government will publish a delivery update on progress across all elements of the strategy including the key performance indicators dashboard later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on commissioning the Animals in Science Committee to recommend corporate responsibility reporting expectations by establishments using animals on their use of alternatives.

We are engaging with the Home Office to agree the most effective way to work with the ASC to deliver this commitment, aligned with existing ASC programmes of work. The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on developing mechanisms to enable regulators to increase uptake of the MHRA’s scientific advice service.

The strategy sets out seven commitments to increase confidence in the validation and regulatory uptake of alternative methods.On 24 March, the MHRA announced it will offer early regulatory review of non‑animal data, including data generated using in silico approaches, to provide clarity on how such data will be assessed ahead of clinical trials. MHRA is the first UK regulator to offer this service, setting a precedent which the Government expects other regulators to follow.The Government will publish a delivery update, including the regulatory elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on the UK fiscal framework for pre-clinical Contract Research Organisations.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology engages routinely with HM Treasury on a range of issues affecting the UK life sciences sector, including the fiscal framework. Officials have discussed options for supporting pre‑clinical Contract Research Organisations with HM Treasury and work continues.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing sustained investment focused on animal replacement.

The commitments to increase investment and expand challenge led innovation for alternative methods are being led by UKRI.The Strategy was supported by £75m of funding and commits to increasing investment in alternative methods. UKRI has been in discussion to consider the most effective delivery approach and £20 million of increased funding is already available through the Pre‑clinical Translational Models Hub funding call, launched in March 2026. In addition, Innovate UK launched a £2 million Contracts for Innovation competition in February 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in creating a preclinical translational models hub.

The delivery of the commitment to Create a preclinical translational models hub is led by the Medical Research Council (MRC).The Preclinical translational models hub funding call to identify a host for the hub was launched on 2 March 2026 with decisions on this expected in July. The Hub is expected to commence work this year.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in developing a set of key performance indicators with which to assess delivery of the strategy.

The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, Published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in providing foundational 3Rs training in alternative methods to all PhD students and early career scientists.

The delivery of the commitment to provide foundational 3Rs training is led by the NC3Rs. NC3Rs is developing plans in collaboration with their Board on how to expand their existing PhD student and early career researcher training so that it is accessible to all scientists who are embarking on careers using animals and alternative methods.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in strengthening the commitment of journal editors to publishing research using alternative methods without requiring comparison with an animal model.

The delivery of the commitment to strengthen the commitment of journal editors to publishing research using alternative methods sits with NC3Rs.As set out in the strategy, this work will be initiated at the start of 2027. To support this, NC3Rs will launch their DRIVER (Designing and Reporting In Vitro Experiments Responsibly) recommendations that underpin improved experimental design and reporting of in vitro studies in 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in creating positive incentives for research proposal applicants to develop and implement alternatives to animal use.

The delivery of the commitment to Enable funders to ensure thorough scrutiny of animal research in funding decisions is led by UKRI and will create positive incentives for research proposal applicants to develop and implement alternatives to animal use.UKRI are developing a funding service to support this and the strategy commits to start the funding cycle in 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper Replacing animals in science: a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by how much she plans to increase investment in alternative methods in a) 2026/27, b) 2027/28 and c) 2028/29.

The commitments to increase investment and expand challenge led innovation for alternative methods are being led by UKRI.The Strategy was supported by £75m of funding and commits to increasing investment in alternative methods. UKRI has been in discussion to consider the most effective delivery approach and £20 million of increased funding is already available through the Pre‑clinical Translational Models Hub funding call, launched in March 2026. In addition, Innovate UK launched a £2 million Contracts for Innovation competition in February 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing the visibility of available alternative methods to facilitate their uptake.

Work to increase the visibility of available alternative methods to facilitate their uptake will be led by the NC3Rs and delivered through an expansion of their gateway publishing platform, so that it is available to all researchers developing alternative methods. Work is underway to identify and collate UKRI-funded alternative methods for inclusion on the gateway. The strategy aims for this expanded platform to be in place by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on forming a cross-governmental Ministerial group on alternative methods.

The Ministerial Alternative Methods Strategy Delivery Group met for the first time in March and is scheduled to meet quarterly, with the next meeting due to take place in June.