Animal Use and Welfare Policy
In the course of researching and developing medicines with the potential to help address unmet medical needs, a small but vital part of our efforts consists of animal studies. While it is our long-term aspiration to eliminate the use of animals from these efforts, animal studies provide non-clinical data for Investigational New Drug Applications and are required by regulatory agencies. In addition, many proof-of-concept and mechanistic studies are currently also best modeled in animal models of human disease.
With this in mind, we are committed to the ethical treatment and responsible use of animals while conducting our research and development. When designing our research studies, animals are only used when alternatives will not provide the data necessary to discover, develop or obtain regulatory approval of safe and effective medicines. We believe that humane animal care is an essential aspect of high-quality science and drug development practices. In order to be studied in the most controlled manner, animals must be kept comfortable and be able to express innate behavior. Gilead and Kite are committed to ensuring that our animal research programs and facilities meet or exceed all requirements outlined by regulatory agencies, industry codes, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and applicable laws.