Unless and until we have validated non-animal alternative methods available for routine use, the involvement of animals in research is required for scientific and health advances.

This is one of the main benefits of applying adequate research rigor to design and conduct of experiments – i.e., not only saving but also making the best possible use of ethically very sensitive resources.

In the EU, the Directive 2010/63/EU explicitly mandates the conduct of a Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA) of proposed animal research by Competent Authorities. HBA involves the evaluation of potential harms inflicted upon research animals against any potential benefits derived from the research. In practice, however, there is no alignment on how the benefit of the proposed research should be assessed.

It is of note that, while outlining strategies to phase out animal testing and to focus on alternative methods, public funders and government agencies are looking for ways to scrutinize animal research in funding decisions (here).

We were part of a group of experts who develop a framework for assessing benefit of animal experiments that can assist both:

• Ethics Committees or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees to identify research proposals deserving a priority review as well as to identify strengths and weaknesses regarding the benefit of proposed studies, and
• scientists willing to highlight the benefit of the proposed studies and the rigor they are prepared to invest to achieve the benefit objectives.

This group developed an online tool (R Shiny, no data collected – here) that can enable phasing out of poor-quality research and support the objective of promoting rigorous high-quality research (example of the output generated by the tool – here). Our tool is described in a recent publication (here) and was presented at the FELASA congress in Athens in June 2025.

Readers of this newsletter interested in learning about BAM details and willing to provide feedback and pilot test the BAM are invited to contact the group via email.