Limitations of Animal Studies for Predicting Toxicity in Clinical Trials Is it Time to Rethink Our Current Approach?

Animal testing is used M pharmaceutical and industrial research to predict human toxicity, and yet analysis suggests that animal models are poor predictors of drug safety in humans. The cost of animal research is high-in dollars, delays in drug approval, and in the toss of potentially beneficial drugs for human use. Human subjects have been harmed in the clinical testing of drugs that were deemed safe by animal studies. Increasingly, investigators are questioning the scientific merit of animal research. This review discusses issues in using animals to predict human toxicity in pharmaceutical development. Part 1 focuses on scientific concerns over the validity of animal research. Part 2 will discuss alternatives to animal research and their validation and use in production of human pharmaceuticals. (C) 2019 The Author. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.