Quality and safety tests are required for regulatory approval of drugs and pharmaceuticals in the country to guarantee minimum safety standards, and most of these tests include animal usage. In the case of biological medicines, these safety and quality tests have to be performed on a batch-to-batch basis and require a large number of animals. Russell and Burch's 1959 principle of the 3 Rs- replacement, reduction, and refinement-is now being increasingly adopted worldwide, and various national and international pharmacopoeias have taken initiatives to safeguard animals. This article details the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission's initiative to implement the 3 Rs through the Indian Pharmacopoeia. Explored are the deletion of animal tests, such as the abnormal toxicity test at final lot for biologicals; the replacement of in vivo methods by in vitro methods; the reduction in the number of animals used where deletion of the animal test is not possible; and the refinement of tests to cause minimal suffering to the animals. In Indian Pharmacopoeia 2014, pyrogen testing using rabbits has been replaced by the bacterial endotoxin test in the majority of biological monographs-keeping in view international trends and, especially for vaccine monographs, validated in vitro tests such as the bacterial endotoxin test as an alternative to the pyrogen test where justified and authorized. Steps are taken for introducing a single-dilution assay for the potency testing of diphtheria and tetanus vaccine (adsorbed) with the aim of minimizing number of animals used. The justified and authorized use of animals in drug manufacturing, analytic laboratories, and research will not only help in the expedited development/production of drugs but also be useful in protecting and promoting animal health.
Keywords: 3Rs; Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission; animal testing; bacterial endotoxin test; reduction; refinement; replacement.