pharm animal

It’s like a one, two punch… in the stomach.

The FDA approved a drug today that is used for people with a rare condition that creates fatal blood clots.  But, in doing so, they also approved the genetically altered goats that were used to make the drug, thereby opening the way for other companies to use GMO animals in pharmaceutical products.  

Proponents claim that this is a means of producing pharmaceuticals at a lower cost and will be reflected on the consumer price, that it is safe, and there is no way the animals can be released out of captivity.

However, opponents feel that “it is a mechanistic use of animals that seems to perpetuate the notion of their being merely tools for human use rather than sentient creatures,” the Humane Society of the United States says in its position paper on the practice.

There are other concerns: that the animals could be harmed, that animal germs might contaminate the drug, that the milk or meat from genetically engineered drug-producing animals might enter the food supply or that the animals might escape and breed with others, spreading the gene, with unpredictable consequences.

In any case, they are now approved for use and time will tell if it is going to be harmful.  

* This was originally reported by the New York Times