Indala Institute of Pharmacy has pledged to end all experiments on animals, formerly required in its pharmacology education classes, and use virtual simulation software in its place.
The Maharashtra-based Institute has signed an agreement to use the Ex Pharm (Experimental Pharmacology) software, provided free by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India in partnership with Delhi’s Bureau for Health and Education Status Upliftment (a philanthropic organisation), a note from PETA said.
The decision will save about 40 albino rats used annually by the Institute in postgraduate student research studies for antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, toxicity, and bioavailability experiments, they note said. The decision follows communication with PETA India about the superiority of non-animal research and education methods, it added.
“The interactive software allows pharmacology students to conduct experiments using computer-assisted learning methods while sparing the lives of countless mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other animals who otherwise may be forced to inhale or consume chemicals, deliberately infected with diseases, mutilated, and then killed via suffocation or neck dislocation,” PETA said.
Dr Anjana Aggarwal, PETA India Science Policy Advisor, told businessline, the Institute’s transition to non-animal education methods was important in terms of moving towards progressive science, instead of “mutilating and killing animals in cruel and outdated experiments. ”Over 2000 such institutes are registered with central authorities, and if each of them used even 100 small or mid-sized animals annually, it would mean 2 lakh animals that can be saved if non-animal methods were adopted, she added.
The note further added, that “rats and other animals are not relevant to human pharmacology education,” urging all pharmacology programmes to take a cue from the progressive approach adopted by Indala Institute of Pharmacy.
New guidelines
In 2022, the National Medical Commission revised its guidelines for postgraduate pharmacology curricula, recommending the use of several non-animal teaching and training methods and no longer making certain routine laboratory experiments on animals mandatory, the note said. It needs to be mandated (not recommended), and implemented, she added.
The Ex Pharm simulation software allows the Institute “to replace experiments on animals in our undergraduate and postgraduate educational curricula while also enhancing the quality of learning for our students,” said Indala Institute of Pharmacy Principal Dr Vaibhav V Kulkarni.
A simulation software
Dr Dharmendra Ahuja, Principal mentor ExPharm software, Bureau for Health and Education said, about 3,700 institutes had subscribed with them for the simulation software for educational purposes. The software had about 84 modules representing animal experiments and institutes could take subscription packages depending on the modules they needed, he said, of the educational tool.
Research shows that several students at every educational level are uncomfortable with the use of animals in dissection and experimentation, and some even turn away from scientific careers, Peta said. Computer software programmes can be used repeatedly, saves time and money and spares animals their lives, the note said.