475 Billion KRW Budget Allocated Over 5 Years for Commercialization of Alternative Animal Testing Methods

A budget of 47.5 billion KRW will be invested over five years to commercialize alternative animal testing methods introduced to reduce animal experiments conducted during the drug development process.

Appearance of a horseshoe crab commonly used in the pharmaceutical development process

On the 14th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced that it will hold a briefing session on related research projects for industry, academia, and research institute stakeholders at the Grand Intercontinental Parnas Hotel in Seoul on the 19th.

The MFDS plans to conduct a standardization research project on alternative animal testing from next year through 2028. The core objective is to develop alternative animal testing technologies at stages such as drug safety evaluation and standard testing to minimize animal experiments. The development of evaluation technologies using organoids (organ-like structures) and bio-tissue chips, as well as the utilization of alternative testing methods using zebrafish and Caenorhabditis elegans, will be considered. To this end, the MFDS will initially allocate 7.5 billion KRW in the budget for next year and plans to invest a total of 47.5 billion KRW by spending 10 billion KRW annually over the following four years until 2028.

Additionally, the MFDS will simultaneously hold a briefing session on research projects in the field of narcotics safety management on the same day. The goal is to develop technologies to determine human administration of narcotics and illegal mixing of narcotics in food, as well as rehabilitation technologies for drug addicts. A total of 16.8 billion KRW will be invested in the related budget from next year through 2028.