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 Nature and Nature Methods claims that non-animal antibodies are ready to replace animal-derived ones in all known applications.