CELLINK’s vision and dream is to be able to contribute to the future of medicine by addressing some of the key challenges in modern healthcare. It is well known that animal studies are poor indicators of success for human drug development, yet animals are still used in lengthy processes (average 12 years) with clinical trials at huge costs, where 9 out of 10 fail.
With humane biologically relevant models, we can save lives with faster and more accurate methods for drug discovery, while eliminating the unnecessary use of animal testing.
The Swedish 3Rs Center (Replace, Reduce and Refine), have instated a network to facilitate contact and information sharing on animal-free methods. CELLINK has joined this network to educate the research community of the humane biological methods available to improve drug development efficiency and effectiveness.
CELLINK’s sustainability agenda addresses SDG 3 (Sustainable Development Goal 3 “Good health & well-being”), which includes minimizing the use of animals in research while contributing to the future of health. To achieve this, CELLINK has initiated the STEP initiative. STEP stands for Sustainable Tissue Engineering Practices and is focused on creating alternative 3D bioprinted models and bringing these models to the scientific community.
The Swedish 3Rs Center was established in 2017 as part of the work of the Swedish National Committee for the Protection of Animals for Scientific Purposes, following the legislations of the European Union, Directive 2010/63/EU. The 3Rs stand for Replace, Reduce and Refine and are applied to animals used for scientific purposes.
“Creating technology that contributes to minimizing or limiting the use of animals has always been a priority for CELLINK. Knowing that it will considerably contribute to creating efficiencies in drug discovery makes our work even more important”, said Cecilia Edebo, CEO CELLINK.
“Increasing awareness about alternative models to animal testing is crucial to achieve a change among researchers. We are proud to take one more STEP forward toward this goal”, said Diana Cervantes, Senior Cell Biologist, leading the STEP initiative, CELLINK.
“The Swedish 3Rs Center is an assembling arena for knowledge and progress when it comes to replace, reduce and refine animal experiments in Sweden. An increasing number of qualified members in our network, will lead to increased visibility and ultimately this will speed up the transition from animal experiments to the use of animal-free methods”, says Jessica Johansson, Manager, The Swedish 3Rs Center.
For more information about CELLINK’s Sustainable Tissue Engineering Practices (STEP).
