Dutch government endorses research using monkeys

In a significant move, a committee of government experts has published a report stating that biomedical research with monkeys remains crucial in drug development and regulation.

The  Committee for the Research of Non-Human Primates (NHPs), had been asked by the Dutch government to investigate if research with NHPs could be further reduced, and has now published its conclusions.

Commenting on whether New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) can replace, reduce or refine NHP research, the committee said that NAMs were not yet capable of answering all research questions where the use of monkeys is currently considered necessary.

Eppo Bruins, the Minister for Education, Culture and Science (OCW) welcomed the outcomes of the investigation and in a letter to Parliament concluded that research at EARA member the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) should be maintained according to current agreements.

The minister added: “I believe it is up to the Dutch researchers and competent authorities themselves to determine which research involving NHPs is truly necessary, following a thorough evaluation. More generally, I am very reluctant to make political decisions about which research should or should not take place in the Netherlands.”

Research using monkeys in the Netherlands had already been reduced significantly in the last few years according to an agreement between OCW and the BPRC. This included a reduction in breeding colony size from 1,437 to around 1,000 and a reduction in the number of procedures from 200-250 to 120-150 per year by 2025. This agreement was made after the Dutch government stated their ambition to become a forerunner in the transition to animal-free innovation.

The report further said that the Netherlands is a significant contributor to NHP research and described a phase out or reduction in Dutch NHP research as potentially a setback in European autonomy when it comes to, for example, vaccine development.

BPRC breeds its own monkeys and is one of only four European primate centres that does so. Shrinking this colony further would strongly go against the EU ambition to be more self-sufficient, for example in pandemic preparedness.

At the end of 2022, the Dutch Parliament requested that the government investigate if research with NHPs could be further reduced. This committee was established by OCW at the end of 2023 and was asked to investigate ways to reduce NHP experiments without compromising research that is strictly necessary for combatting life-threatening disease and outbreaks of infectious diseases affecting public health.

Additionally, the committee was asked to provide an analysis of four possible scenarios: 1) a complete phase-out, 2) a reduction, 3) a continuation, and 4) an increase of NHP research in the Netherlands.