Stop Botox animal testing
Botox is the brand name of one of the products containing the nerve poison botulinum toxin. The toxin is used for medical and increasingly for cosmetic applications. A small injection causes facial wrinkles to disappear. But the price for the short term 'beauty' is paid by the suffering and death of thousands of mice. Each batch is tested before it reaches consumers. A sample is injected into the abdomen of mice. The mice suffer paralysis, impaired vision and respiratory distress. After three or four days of suffering, they die from suffocation. The ECEAE has supported the campaign 'Stop Botox animal testing' since 2009 to inform the public, to put pressure on the manufacturers still testing on animals as well as on authorities to speed up the validation and implementation of animal-free methods and to remove the mouse assay in the EU legislation.
Success
Animal-free testing methods are already available, but not all manufacturers use these. In 2011 the campaign led to a first success: market leader Allergan got a regulatory approval for a non-animal test in the US, Canada and the EU. The German company Merz received an approval for a cell-based assay in 2015. In August 2018, the French manufacturer Ipsen finally received approval in the EU and Switzerland for a cell-based test - 7 years after Allergan. However, all three companies replace only a large part of their animal experiments. Despite these successes, an estimated 400,000 mice per year are subjected to a cruel death by asphyxiation in Europe only.
Campaign Target
Today it is mainly the company Sloan Pharma still using the cruel mouse test. Sloan Pharma sells the botulinum toxin B preparation Myobloc of the US company USWorldMeds under the name Neurobloc in Europe. Neurobloc is approved for the treatment of torticollis. In 2018, Sloan Pharma purchased Neurobloc from the Japanese company Eisai for distribution in Europe. Eisai was responsible for LD50 tests on 90,000 mice at the Hamburg contract laboratory LPT in 2014/2015. In 2019 Sloan Pharma received a license for LD50 tests on 46,800 mice at the LPT.
You can help
Botox is the brand name of one of the products containing the nerve poison botulinum toxin. The toxin is used for medical and increasingly for cosmetic applications. A small injection causes facial wrinkles to disappear. But the price for the short term 'beauty' is paid by the suffering and death of thousands of mice. Each batch is tested before it reaches consumers. A sample is injected into the abdomen of mice. The mice suffer paralysis, impaired vision and respiratory distress. After three or four days of suffering, they die from suffocation. The ECEAE has supported the campaign 'Stop Botox animal testing' since 2009 to inform the public, to put pressure on the manufacturers still testing on animals as well as on authorities to speed up the validation and implementation of animal-free methods and to remove the mouse assay in the EU legislation.
Campaign Target
Please write to Sloan Pharma. You can use the sample letter below or write your own letter. Sloan Pharma Sarl Bertrange Cham Branch Alte Steinhauserstr. 21 6330 Cham Switzerland Fax +41 41 7473130 info@sloanpharma.com Dear Sir/Madam I was shocked to learn that your company is carrying out cruel animal experiments on 46,800 mice at the Hamburg contract laboratory LPT for the batch testing of your botulinum toxin B product Neurobloc. In this so-called LD50 test, groups of mice are injected with different doses of the substance in the abdomen. The mice are subjected to terrible pain and after up to three or four days of suffering they die of suffocation. Already in 2011, the first cell-based assay was approved, developed by the company Allergan for the batch testing of botulinum toxin A products. In the meantime, two other manufacturers have received approval for their cell tests. I am aware that botulinum toxin B is different from A. However, other manufacturers have proven that the replacement of the cruel animal test is possible. I urge you to develop a non-animal testing method. For the period of time until the approval of this non-animal assay the production of Neurobloc must be suspended. I will boycott all your products and encourage all my friends to do the same as long as you are responsible for LD50 tests. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely
