The testing of medicine on animals has taken place off Otley Road on Harlow Hill since the 1970s.
Labcorp, formerly known as Covance, says its research on animals helps to develop life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
However, it’s an emotive subject and the practice raises ethical questions. Protestors have met outside the site for many years to object against what they believe is “wrong” and “horrendous”.
Labcorp employs around 1,400 people in Harrogate, has 170 study rooms, and has 15 PhD students working there.
Andrew Jones MP praised the business in Parliament this week calling it “the heart of new medicine development both in the UK and across Europe”, but his comments drew criticism from some.
What is animal testing?
UK law requires all new medicines to be tested on two live mammals, one of which must be a large non-rodent — usually a dog or monkey — before a potential new drug is tried on humans.
Drugs from the heroin-substitute methadone to various cancer drugs and the covid vaccines were tested on animals first.
Many of these experiments cause suffering to the animals involved.
Labcorp Drug Development said it takes “very seriously” the ethical and regulatory responsibilities to treat research animals with the “greatest care and respect”. It says testing new drugs on animals “is the right thing to do”.
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What happens in the tests?
The Stray Ferret spoke to Chris Magee, head of policy at Understanding Animal Research, a group that works with universities and the pharmaceutical industry to explain why animals are used in medical and scientific research.
He estimates around a quarter of the experiments that take place at Labcorp in Harrogate involve testing on animals, with the majority of these being on mice. Crop research and diagnostic testing also take place there.
He said beagles are bred domestically for the specific purpose of being used in testing before being driven to Harrogate.
He said the majority of tests on beagles involve putting a pill inside their food once a day. Scientists will then observe how the animal reacts over a period of usually around a month.
They will then euthanise the dog at the end of the experiment to look for early signs of disease. In 2019, figures show dogs were used in 4,227 experiments across the UK.
Government statistics show that 75% of these dogs encounter “mild” suffering and 25% encounter “moderate” suffering.
Moderate suffering includes forcing the dog to do something that they would normally run away from, giving it cancer or “swim tests” which involve putting an animal in water to test the antidepressant qualities of a drug. Animal charity PETA calls swim tests “cruel”.
Mr Magee said the dogs are exercised and played with and reports of them being locked up in cages all day are inaccurate.
Does it work?
Mr Magee said out of 100 drugs tested on animals, around 40 unsafe and deadly drugs are “weeded out” before they get to humans.
He provided statistics that suggest dogs in particular are good at detecting which compounds will be toxic to people.
However, PETA says many of the tests done on animals are unnecessary with trials done merely because researchers are curious.
Labcorp trades on the US stock market and brought in over $11 billion in revenue in 2018. Critics of the practice believe it is driven by profit and not the welfare of animals, which Mr Magee disputed.
94% of drugs that pass testing on animals are withdrawn before human trials, including for commercial reasons.
Are there alternatives to testing on animals?
Many people who oppose testing on animals believe it is outdated and should be replaced with more modern alternatives.
These include growing human and animal cell tissue in labs.
A spokesperson for the Harrogate District Green Party told the Stray Ferret the UK should “push itself to the forefront” of research and development without animal testing.
Mr Magee said the companies such as Labcorp are investing millions of pounds into alternatives that could be replace animal testing by the end of the 2020s.
He said:
“If animal testing is still being used then it’s necessary, it’s as simple as that.”
