Thanks to a 7 year battle by the HSUS, Botox manufacturer Allergan has developed and has federal approval for a new procedure that doesn’t require animal testing. Botox is the anti-wrinkle treatment.
The LD 50 test (Lethal Dose 50%) consists of giving animals various doses of a substance in order to determine the amount that kills 50% of them. Eventually they all die.
Up until now, Allergan used mice in testing Botox. Botox and related products contain the active ingredient Botulinum neurotoxin. Death from testing is slow suffocation.
While some alternatives have been found by manufacturers, using less or no animals, Allergan was not one of them.
Worldwide more than 100,000 mice have been used with related products as well as Boxtox itself.
Kudos to Allergan who spent 10 years and $65 million developing this alternative method of testing, proving to other companies who test on animals that it can be done.
The HSUS and Humane Society International will continue to urge companies worldwide to use this new test method.
