Non-animal-derived monoclonal antibodies are not ready to substitute current hybridoma technology

Abstract

We write on behalf of the COSCE (Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies) Transparency Agreement on Animal Research, supported by the EARA (European Animal Research Association). In May 2020, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) released a recommendation on the development of non-animal-derived antibodies, urging government authorities, funding agencies and publishers to endorse the use of these antibodies to improve scientific reproducibility1. These recommendations were based on the work done by the Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) of the European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM). Recent correspondence to Nature2 and Nature Methods3 claims that non-animal antibodies are ready to replace animal-derived ones in all known applications. In our view, however, both the EC-JRC document and the published correspondence contain distorted perceptions of the current possibilities for non-animal-derived antibodies. While we are all committed to replacing animal experimentation with alternative methods, these methods need further scientific validation to justify replacing the use of animals without affecting the desired outcome of the experiment.