ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 25, Number 5

In vitro versus in vivo propagation of monoclonal antibodies: a test case for the effectiveness of Swedish ethical review committees.

ATLA 25, 517-526, September/October 1997

Ulrika Hansson

Swedish Society against Painful Experiments on Animals, Gamla Huddingevägen 437, 125 42 Älvsjö, Sweden

SUMMARY

In descriptions of the Swedish system for the control of animal experiments, it is often implied that the system guarantees that the animals are not subjected to unnecessary suffering and that available alternative methods are used. A study was carried out to examine applications for the use of the ascites method for monoclonal antibody production during 1995 and 1996. The data show that approval was given to all the applications received, with scanty justification. Thus, public reassurance that the Swedish system prevents the unnecessary use of animals is undermined by these findings.

Keywords: monoclonal antibodies, mAbs, ascites, alternatives, pristane, ethical review system, ethical preview system, Sweden