Created Wednesday, 06 July 2011
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given approval to the company Allergan for its in-vitro, cell-based assay for testing its own brand of botox, which the company estimates will lead to a 95% reduction in animal tests over the next three years.
Botox, used to lessen wrinkles, is a powerful neurotoxin produced by bacteria. Because it is so toxic, each batch has to be tested for potency. Currently the LD50 test is used, so mice are injected with the drug to determine the dose that kills half of them. Thousands of animals a year suffer in these tests.
A recent investigation of Wickham Laboratories in the UK uncovered their use of approximately 74,000 mice to test their product Dysport annually. The mice are injected into the abdomen with the botox and then watched. They then typically become paralysed, eventually gasping for breath and if they’re not killed, they will suffocate to death. The ones who don’t die, are gassed or have their necks broken with a pen, which often resulted in breaking backs, instead of killing them.
For more information on this British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) investigation, see the following report, diary and photo gallery.
http://www.buav.org/undercover-investigations/theuglytruthaboutbotox/photogallery
http://www.buav.org/undercover-investigations/theuglytruthaboutbotox/investigators-diary/
http://www.buav.org/undercover-investigations/theuglytruthaboutbotox/
BUAV will continue to work to get more companies to adopt non-animal alternatives, including Ipsen and Merz-Pharma, in addition to calling on the European Medicines Agency to accept the new alternative for all botox products.
- information from Alice G. at Care2