Implementing the EURL ECVAM Recommendation on Non-Animal-Derived Antibodies in One EU Member State - Denmark

In 2020, the EU Commission's Joint Research Centre published the EURL ECVAM Recommendation on Non-Animal-Derived Antibodies. In advance of the publication of this EURL ECVAM Recommendation, Landsforeningen Forsøgsdyrenes Værn arranged for an expert presentation on non-animal-derived antibodies to the Animal Experimentation Council, which is the body responsible for the review and approval of projects involving animals in Denmark. The main concerns of Council Members following the presentation were the widespread unfamiliarity with phage display methodology in Denmark, and how it would be possible to adapt licensing decisions. Before deciding how to approach the implementation of the Recommendation, the animal experimentation authority Dyreforsøgstilsynet, of which the Animal Experimentation Council and its secretariat are part, probed the wider scientific community and requested an opinion from the National Committee on Laboratory Animals and Alternatives. Wider scientific opinion in Denmark spanned those who were, to a certain extent, positive toward the non-animal methodology and those who were sceptical. Consequently, the approach chosen by the Danish authority is to encourage and monitor the uptake of non-animal methods, while allowing time for adjustment. Change has been slow, but the seeds of change are sown.