FDA Modernization Act 2.0 allows for alternatives to animal testing

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the FDA Modernization Act 2.0. The bill essentially refutes the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938, which mandated animal testing for every new drug development protocol. While for the past century, the mandate was intended to ensure certain quality and safety standards for drugs and medical devices, recent advancements in science have begun to offer increasingly viable alternatives to animal testing. For certain areas such as organ replacement therapies, non-animal testing may not prove to be an adequate alternative in the foreseeable future.

Automated summary

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 into law, which overturns the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 that required animal testing for every new drug development protocol. While the previous mandate aimed to ensure drug and medical device quality and safety, recent scientific advancements have provided increasingly viable alternatives to animal testing. However, non-animal testing may not be an adequate substitute in the foreseeable future for certain areas such as organ replacement therapies.