Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on forming a cross-governmental Ministerial group on alternative methods.

The Ministerial Alternative Methods Strategy Delivery Group met for the first time in March and is scheduled to meet quarterly, with the next meeting due to take place in June.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in positioning the UK as a global leader in alternative methods.

The Government is positioning the UK as a global leader in alternative methods by strengthening regulatory confidence through MHRA reform and investing in validation infrastructure and skills, supporting UK leadership by setting international benchmarks for how alternative methods are developed, assessed and adopted.As part of this, we are scoping opportunities for international engagement at both multilateral and bilateral level, including plans to bring together international regulators to discuss the expansion of existing partnerships, the establishment of new partnerships, and priorities of mutual importance.The Government will publish a delivery update later in 2026, alongside a set of key performance indicators covering all elements of the strategy.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by when she plans to publish areas of research interest for alternative methods.

UKRI is leading the commitment to publish Areas of Research Interest for alternative methods.The strategy commits to initiating this work in the first half of 2026, with discussions now happening between the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to agree the approach.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in implementing better animal research approval and dissemination mechanisms to assess whether animal use is required or whether alternatives could be used.

The strategy aims to improve animal research approval and dissemination mechanisms, to better assess where alternative methods can be used. This work is being taken forward through the commitments set out under the Discovery Research Themes, with activities to be initiated during 2026–27.The Government will publish a delivery update later in 2026, alongside key performance indicators setting out progress across all elements of the strategy.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in increasing the visibility of available alternative methods.

Work to increase the visibility of available alternative methods to facilitate their uptake is led by the NC3Rs and delivered through an expansion of their gateway publishing platform, so that it is available to all researchers developing alternative methods. Work is underway to identify and collate UKRI-funded alternative methods for inclusion on the gateway. The strategy aims for this expanded platform to be in place by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by what date in 2926 does she expect the first round of the Validation Accelerator grants to be launched.

The Validation Accelerator grant commitment is being led by UKRI and will be delivered through a number of mechanisms, For example, Innovate UK’s £2 million Contracts for Innovation: Industrial Human‑Relevant Drug Models competition, launched in February 2026, supports the development and commercialisation of non‑animal methods to assess the pre‑clinical pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular safety of new medicines.Validation Accelerators will be coordinated by the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM), once it is established. £30 million has been allocated to support its establishment and delivery.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in facilitating widespread adoption of AI methods to assess potential safety and toxicity profiles.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing investment in data-driven biology.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the olicy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, how much of the £8 million from DSIT’s new Sovereign AI Unit has been spent on OpenBind to date.

UKRI will report on its portfolio of investments in alternative methods, including any AI focused methods, in 2026. The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in accelerating the replacement of animals in science to phase out their use.

The Government has established governance arrangements for the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy, with the first Ministerial Board now convened to oversee delivery. We have announced £75 million to accelerate the development and adoption of alternative methods across the UK and are working with regulators and public bodies to determine how this funding will be allocated. A delivery update alongside KPIs will be published later in 2026. We also intend to publish areas of research interest for alternative methods later this year.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing private investment in alternative methods to boost innovation and growth.

Delivery of increasing private investment is led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the commitment to increase investment in alternative methods.The strategy sets out a long‑term, cross‑government programme to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of non‑animal methods. Officials are engaging regularly with representatives from the chemicals, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries to discuss opportunities to accelerate adoption, address barriers to uptake and support collaboration between industry, regulators and the research base.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, when in 2026 does she expect to publish a list of regulatory priorities for alternative methods to help guide investment for development, qualification and validation accelerating the regulatory acceptance of alternative methods.

The delivery of the commitment to publish a list of regulatory priorities for alternative methods sits with NC3Rs.NC3Rs, working with its Regulatory Sciences Forum, is developing the publication, including its overall structure and the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of alternative methods. As set out in the strategy, we expect the list of priorities for regulatory development and validation to be published by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in developing a workforce with the necessary skills set to implement the uptake of new alternative methods.

Commitments in the strategy to build a skilled workforce, including early career researchers, to support the uptake of alternative methods are led by the NC3Rs.This work is focusing on building capacity in the development and adoption of alternative methods through expanded NC3Rs-led 3Rs training, alongside targeted support for method developers and regulators. The aim is to deliver a workforce aligned with the UK’s ambitions and sector demand for non-animal methods.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, when does she expect to publish a coherent list of alternative methods that would be acceptable data sources.

The delivery of the commitment to publish a list of regulatory priorities for alternative methods sits with NC3Rs.NC3Rs, working with its Regulatory Sciences Forum, is developing the publication, including its overall structure and the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of alternative methods. As set out in the strategy, we expect the list of priorities for regulatory development and validation to be published by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in strengthening the commitment of journal editors to publishing research using alternative methods.

The delivery of the commitment to strengthen the commitment of journal editors to publishing research using alternative methods sits with NC3Rs.    As set out in the strategy, this work will be initiated at the start of 2027. To support this, NC3Rs will launch their DRIVER (Designing and Reporting In Vitro Experiments Responsibly) recommendations that underpin improved experimental design and reporting of in vitro studies in 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in establishing a new preclinical translational research hub to bring together data, cell engineering, genomic technology, and expertise to create a pipeline of novel translational medicine models.

The delivery of the commitment to Create a preclinical translational models hub is led by the Medical Research Council (MRC).The Preclinical translational models hub funding call to identify a host for the hub was launched on 2 March 2026 with decisions on this expected in July. The Hub is expected to commence work in Autumn 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in collecting annual data on the number of clinical trial applications that include toxicity tests conducted in 2 species.

The delivery of the commitment to collect annual data on the number of clinical trial applications that include toxicity tests conducted in 2 species, sits with NC3Rs.MHRA holds this data and NC3Rs are working with them on the best way to access and share this information. The strategy commits to first publish by mid-2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in developing regulatory guidance to support data-driven and AI‑informed decision-making.

The strategy sets out seven commitments to increase confidence in the validation and regulatory uptake of alternative methods.On 24 March, the MHRA announced it will offer early regulatory review of non animal data, including data generated using in silico approaches, to provide clarity on how such data will be assessed ahead of clinical trials. MHRA is the first UK regulator to offer this service, setting a precedent which the Government expects other regulators to follow.The Government will publish a delivery update, including the regulatory elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help improve regulatory confidence and acceptance of alternative methods.

The strategy sets out seven commitments to increase confidence in the validation and regulatory uptake of alternative methods.On 24 March, the MHRA announced it will offer early regulatory review of non animal data, including data generated using in silico approaches, to provide clarity on how such data will be assessed ahead of clinical trials. MHRA is the first UK regulator to offer this service, setting a precedent which the Government expects other regulators to follow.The Government will publish a delivery update, including the regulatory elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025 what progress has she made in a) expanding existing and b) establishing new partnerships with international regulators to identify internationally agreed priorities of mutual importance.

The delivery of the commitment to develop out relationships with international regulators sits with the Office for Life Sciences.The Government is ensuring the UK is a global leader in alternative methods by strengthening regulatory confidence through MHRA reform and investing in validation infrastructure and skills, supporting UK leadership by setting international benchmarks for how alternative methods are developed, assessed and adopted. We are also currently scoping opportunities for international engagement on a multilateral and bilateral level.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators, on progress across all elements of the strategy, in 2026.