STORY
The Government has announced £22 million of funding for projects intended to reduce the use of animals in scientific testing and speed up the development of new medicines. The package includes a new national research hub and support for nine projects using human tissue models and artificial intelligence.
A £20 million Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub will be based in Cambridge and will develop miniature versions of human tissue, known as organoids, using cells donated by NHS patients. Researchers will use the models to study how people may respond to medicines, including treatments for cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, while providing an alternative to some tests currently carried out on animals.
A further £2 million will support nine projects through Innovate UK, including beating heart cells grown in a laboratory, human ear models and AI systems designed to predict how medicines move through the body. Government figures show that 2.54 million animal testing procedures were carried out in Great Britain during 2025, a fall of 3.8 per cent from the previous year.