Animal testing laboratory is said to have manipulated cancer studies

There are new, serious allegations against an animal testing laboratory in northern Germany. According to two former employees of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) in Neu Wulmstorf near Hamburg, it is said that years ago studies had been manipulated and animals tormented there. The MDR reports in his political magazine "Fakt".

Thus, monkeys used in trials of anticancer drugs and died during the trial were secretly replaced by new primates. To disguise the death of the animals, the Tattoonummer, which is located in the chest area of ​​the animals, cut out and after the end of the study was subsequently added to the organs of the replaced animal.

With the procedure of the Tattoonummer the animals should be identified. Laboratory organs must be stored for up to 15 years after such series of tests. However, according to the regulations, data from animals that died during the experiment may not be used or must be reported. The data for the study, which tested cytostatic drugs that inhibit the growth of cancer cells, would actually be useless.

In addition, the monkeys were in a very bad condition throughout the test series, complains a former employee who worked at LPT from 2003 to 2005. High dosages of the test substance would have left some of the animals open-skinned.

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Secret shotsAnimal torture in the experimental laboratory - prosecutor determined

Similar allegations against the company have been known since October (read more here.) An employee of the organization "Soko Animal Welfare" had worked for months undercover at LPT and documented the animal experiments. The animal rights activists accuse the laboratory, among other things, kept the animals in too small cages and left to themselves. Already at that time a possible exchange of the experimental animals was reported.

After secretly recorded pictures and videos were published, the public prosecutor's office determined Stade for animal cruelty. On Monday, investigators, along with veterinary officers, searched LPT's business premises.

After the first allegations became known, experts told SPIEGEL that the laboratory had a bad reputation in the industry for years and was known for its lack of transparency.

LPT had denied the allegations. In response to a query from SPIEGEL on the allegations of animal cruelty, the company responded with reference to the ongoing investigation only with general information on their work in drug trials. However, it has since become known that the laboratory will be closed at the end of February 2020.

Tests on monkeys "I did not perceive the experiments as an animal experiment"

LPT is considered one of the largest private laboratories in Germany. Around 175 employees work for the company at several locations. The company receives contracts from pharmaceutical and chemical companies to carry out, for example, legally prescribed toxicity tests for chemicals.

In Germany, 740,000 animals were recently killed for scientific purposes. Another two million were used in animal experiments. The figures refer to the year 2017. More recent data is not available yet. Since 2014, the number of animals used in scientific research and killed for science has fallen from 3.3 million to 2.8 million recently. Comparisons with earlier years are not possible because in the meantime the counting method has been changed.