The Irwin Foundation is planning to hold a conference addressing the question of whether animal models in drug and chemical testing and disease research can predict human response. The use of animals and the requirements by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency assume animal models are predictive for humans. If the animal models are not predictive, then this has implications for using animals in general and specifically for the legal requirements vis-à-vis the FDA and EPA.

The use of animals as predictive models has relevance today not only with respect to the issue of animal-based ethics but from a financial perspective, a scientific perspective, as well as human-based ethics. All these are relevant because if the results from animal models being used as predictive models leads to human harm then society needs to seriously rethink the process.

The conference will address mainly the scientific evidence surrounding the predictive issue but also the ethics of using animals, both animal- and human-related, the business implications, the financial implications for society as a whole, the legal implications, and the cost to society both financial and otherwise of using a sentient animals in a pursuit that may not be scientifically valid.

The use of animals in medical research is contentious on two fronts: ethics and science. While ethics has received the most press, the scientific inadequacies of using animals to predict human response is just as real and arguably more important as, if animals are being used in an endeavour that is not realistic, then this multiplies the ethical concerns.

The Irwin Foundation will present a number of speakers to address the issues of::

1. Whether animal models can predict human response.

2. If animal models cannot predict human response why does their use continue? This will involve speakers from the following communities:
a. Pharmaceutical.
b. Biotech.
c. Legal.
d. Media.
e. Ethics.
f.  Regulatory.

3. Why there is opposition to changing the status quo?

The goal of the conference is to present the data that animal models are not predictive and to begin a process that will result in the regulatory bodies changing their requirements. This will require that the above-mentioned communities understand the problem and then work together to affect change.