Animals & Research at Novartis

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Advances in medicine are responsible for saving and improving the lives of millions of people, as well as those of farm and domestic animals.

Animal research is key to many of the great medical advances that we take for granted today, including:

• vaccines for diseases like polio;
• cancer drugs;
• drugs to treat neurological diseases like epilepsy and schizophrenia;
• medicines for global killers like high blood pressure, diabetes, malaria and much more

Novartis needs animal research to find innovative, safe and life-saving medicines for patients. Novartis would rather see the end of medical research involving animals. Unfortunately this is not completely possible today. There are two reasons for this:

• Although much research and development can be done in a "test tube" (in vitro) or using computers, complex disease mechanisms can often only be better understood through the use of animal studies.
• Governments and regulatory authorities require that medicines be tested in animals before they are tested in humans.

Novartis is committed to refining, reducing and replacing animals in research and to upholding the highest standards in animal welfare. We have a Global Animal Welfare Organization that is dedicated to ensuring the animal’s well-being. Our Animal Welfare Policy meets or exceeds governmental regulations in the countries where we have operations.

Learn more in this section about the essential role that animals play in medical research at Novartis and what we are doing to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare around the world.