It takes about 15 years to make a new medicine. Most fail along the way. Animal research is one small but very important part of the process.
Where do medicines come from?
Find out why it takes up to 15 years to make a new medicine.
Click here to learn more The Shuffle - Think you know how medicines get made? Check out our interactive timeline of medical discoveryFor every animal used to test a medicine 15 people are used.
More than 77% of research animals are rats and mice.
It takes about 15 years to develop a new medicine.
Just about every medicine that you have ever used has been tested on animals.
The law says you can't use a research animal if there is any alternative.
No chimpanzees, gorillas or other great apes can be used in research (except for human beings, of course).
No animals can be used to test cosmetics in the UK.
The government has to approve every experiment using animals in the UK.
All research animals are looked after by a trained vet who is available 24/7.
Animal research facilities are inspected on average every month. The inspectors can go anywhere and arrive without warning.
The number of animals used for research has fallen by about a third since 1970.
Three licences are needed for every animal experiment.
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