Statement on the SPARE Act

Statement on the SPARE Act

Basic, behavioral, and biomedical research have consistently been among the most effective tools employed in our collective and socially responsible effort to promote human health and to prevent or treat mental disorders. A wide array of approaches for treating psychiatric, neurological, behavioral or addictive disorders originated from laboratory and/or clinical research, and the good that comes from that work is not slowing down. In 2024, fifty novel drugs were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of human disease. These include agents that reduce the suffering of people with hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, anemia, blood infections, and multiple forms of cancer.

The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) is a leading professional organization founded on the principle that rigorous scientific research is key to understanding the causes, prevention and treatment of diseases of the nervous system. ACNP acknowledges and endorses the ethical use of diverse approaches to advance our knowledge of these conditions, including studies of living human and animal subjects, cells, tissues and organs/organoids, as well as computer-based approaches such as simulations and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning. History tells us that the thoughtful integration of these methods provides the greatest chance for success.

Recent legislative actions, including the Safeguard Pets, Animals, and Research Ethics (SPARE) Act (H.R. 1802), seek to prohibit animal research in federally funded facilities, even when the work has the potential to improve the outcome for under-addressed health problems. ACNP strongly opposes this bill because it risks curtailing or delaying research with life-saving implications for humans, and because federal and state laws and regulations already safeguard the welfare of animals involved in those projects, including by requiring methodological refinement, reductions in animal use and replacement of animal models whenever possible.

Moreover, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was recently quoted as directing federal agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration, to effect a “dramatic reduction in animal testing” through the use of AI to evaluate the safety of new drugs and biologic agents, rather than with animal studies. While ACNP welcomes the use of complementary methods, including AI, to ensure the safety and efficacy of new agents, we contend that research involving non-human animals is an irreplaceable method for evaluating the safety of new agents. The use of AI, without complementary studies in non-human animals, will fall short of predicting the safety and efficacy of novel treatments, and would expose the public to significant risk. Furthermore, research using non-human animals remains essential for discovering the basic biological mechanisms affected in human disease, and for generating and testing hypotheses about novel interventions.

Biomedical research involving animals, combined with other scientific methods, has already dramatically reshaped the lived experience of people with brain disorders, but there is still much to be done. We believe that accelerating federal investment in sound scientific practices that can address these lingering issues is the most productive way to make Americans healthier.