August 17, 2012 Dear Dr. Geschwind, Dr. Lloyd, and Members of the Working Group, In advance of the Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH Supported Research’s September 5th meeting, NEAVS would like to take this opportunity to provide you with a list of over 835 members of the scientific, academic and health professional communities who support ending the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research and testing, and retiring the chimpanzees. This petition, combined with evidence published in peer-reviewed journals, demonstrates that the use of chimpanzees in research is not widely accepted in the scientific community, and chimpanzee research is unnecessary for human scientific and medical progress. There are compelling reasons to immediately retire chimpanzees being held for biomedical research and testing. Of the approximate 937 chimpanzees in U.S. labs, only about 10-20% are in active research protocols. Their use has decreased dramatically and is at an historic low. A citation analysis found that greater than 85% of chimpanzee studies are not cited or not cited with any relevance to human medicine. The remaining 15% had contributed little, if anything, to the outcome of studies reporting an advance in human clinical practice. The contributors to those studies’ findings were a wide array of in vitro research methods, human clinical and epidemiological investigations, molecular assays and methods, genomic studies, etc. These alternatives and others confirm research involving chimpanzees does not meet the IOM guiding principle that it be necessary to advance the public’s health. There are extensive and fundamental genetic reasons why chimpanzees, however closely related, are not and can never be good models for human research. Specific examples include: HIV: AIDS does not progress from HIV in chimpanzees due to their differing genetics. AIDS- related chimpanzee studies fell by nearly 90% from 1998 to 2005. Hepatitis C: Chimpanzee use in hepatitis C research has declined 50-60% over the past 30 years, while non-animal hepatitis C research has increased 80-fold. It is widely acknowledged, even among chimpanzee-use advocates, that there is no need for chimpanzees in the future development of HCV antivirals. Cancer: Chimpanzees have been scarcely used in cancer research, as their tumors are biologically different from human cancers in their causes and in apoptosis and metastasis. mAbs: Dr. Theresa Reynolds, Director of Safety Assessment at Genentech, asserted in her IOM testimony that she and mAb developers agree there is no need for the use of chimpanzees for mAb development due to “advances in scientific engineering.” Even if chimpanzees were needed for biomedical research, the severe stress that laboratory life and use impose on chimpanzees and the physiological responses to such physical, psychological, cognitive, and social stress would make them ineligible for future research. The effects of laboratory life for a chimpanzee are known to impact gene function and expression, and have particular consequences for immune system function, crucial to infectious disease research. Some of these confounders are outlined below: History of use in multiple research protocols: Many chimpanzees have been infected with multiple viruses and used in various areas of disease research, sometimes in multiple laboratories, confounding any research data and casting further doubt on the scientific validity of the research in which they are used. Further, it is well known that their medical records are often neither complete nor accurate. New England Anti‐Vivisection Society 333 Washington St, STE 850 Boston, MA 02108 p: 617.523.6020 f: 617.523.7925 neavs.org Age: Over one-third of chimpanzees held in U.S. laboratories are elderly and have spent all of their lives as research subjects exposed to many different biomedical protocols and pathogens. Cellular insults caused by stress, illness, and exposure to certain chemicals adversely affect the aging process. Therefore, it is likely that any results gained from chimpanzee aging studies would be both difficult to interpret and impossible to extrapolate to the average human being. Physiological diseases: A recent review of autopsies performed on chimpanzees who died in laboratories, or after transfer from laboratory to sanctuary, revealed that the majority had been suffering from significant chronic or incurable illnesses and often multi-system diseases that should have made them ineligible for future research on scientific, as well as ethical, grounds. Psychological Stress: The physical manifestations of the extreme psychological stress chimpanzees suffer in laboratories adversely affect their suitability as subjects and research results. The effects of stress include cardiovascular diseases, attenuated immune function and autoimmune disorders, premature aging and mortality, developmental abnormalities, elevated tumor initiation and progression, musculoskeletal atrophy, and more. In order to implement the IOM guiding principles, it is critical to consider the above concerns. Not only have researchers chosen alternatives to chimpanzee research based on effectiveness, but the compounded effects of life in a laboratory on the results of scientific studies would make future use of chimpanzees in research irresponsible. In addition, retiring chimpanzees to sanctuary would be economically beneficial to the American public – in tax dollar savings and reallocation of remaining federal funds to more promising areas of biomedical research; and retirement to sanctuary would be beneficial for the chimpanzees’ psychological and physical well-being. On the basis of the IOM’s study and recommendations, and on our review of the scientific investigations and published literature on chimpanzee research, we respectfully hope that the Working Group recognizes serious reservations about the accuracy of claims regarding the necessity, relevance, and efficacy of chimpanzee research, and we urge the Working Group to recommend retiring the chimpanzees. Respectfully submitted, Theodora Capaldo, Ed.D. President New England Anti‐Vivisection Society 333 Washington St, STE 850 Boston, MA 02108 p: 617.523.6020 f: 617.523.7925 neavs.org We, the undersigned members of the scientific, academic and health professional communities, support efforts to end the use of chimpanzees for biomedical research and testing in the United States and to provide them permanent sanctuary. ALABAMA Joan Harper, MD Sharyn Jones, PhD Michelle Hegmon, PhD Assistant Professor Anthropologist Department of Anthropology University of Alabama at Birmingham James King, PhD Professor of Psychology Chev Kellogg, PhD University of Arizona Laurie Kellogg, PhD Virginia Landau, PhD Maynard, Cooper & Gale Jane Goodall Institute, ChimpanZoo University of Arizona Teresa Strunk, RNC Long term care Mark Mosbacher, DVM Former chimpanzee veterinarian ALASKA Nicole Rafferty, PhD University of Arizona Kendra Zamzow, PhD Environmental Chemistry Irina Sinakevitch, PhD Arizona State University ARIZONA Brad Worden, PhD University of Arizona David R. Abbott, PhD Associate Professor of Anthropology Arizona State University ARKANSAS Cady Berkel, PhD Turgut Gokturk, MD Prevention Research Center Anesthesiologist Arizona State University Patricia Petretic, PhD Marisa Borders, MD Department of Psychology Assistant Professor, Department of University of Arkansas Radiology University of Arizona Sharon Robinson, DVM Sheri Congdon, MD Jan Stillion, PhD Retired Physician Psychobiologist Kevin Gibson, PhD Computer Science Affiliations are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily imply endorsement of the above statement by the professional/organizational affiliation. 8/17/2012 Signatures gathered by NEAVS, HSUS, and PCRM Nancy Brenner, RN CALIFORNIA Dale Brenner, EdD Physics Paul R. Abramson, PhD Department of Psychology Jan Brown, BSN, MD University of California, Los Angeles Women’s Health Derek Agarwal, MD Linda Brown, PsyD Ulka Agarwal, MD W. Brunell, RN Psychiatrist Palo Alto Medical Foundation Trent Buckman, PhD Biochemist Concepcion Ahuja, DVM University of California, Los Angeles Joseph Arditti, PhD Patricia Canale, MD Professor of Biology Emeritus University of California, Irvine Kristina Casper-Denman Asst. Professor, American River College Jeanne E. Arnold, PhD Sacramento Zoo Professor of Anthropology Former primate research worker University of California, Los Angeles Holly Cheever, DVM Jan Austin, PhD Vice President, Association of Santa Monica College Veterinarians for Animal Rights Zarin Azar, MD Amber Cohn, DVM Partner Physician Kaiser Hospitals C.E. Crangle, PhD Palo Alto, CA Simon Balm, PhD Department of Earth Sciences Brenner Dale, EdD Santa Monica College Physics Maxine Barish-Wreden, MD Eugene E., PhD Internal Medicine University of California Irvine Johanna Barker, PhD Ramona Forelle, DVM Department of Anthropology Los Angeles, CA Santa Monica College Donald Forrester, ChE, MD, CPE Mark Berman, MD Educator/Consultant Director, Medical Programs Keas, Inc. Pamela Gibson, RN Paul Bethel Patrice Gibson, PhD American River College American River College Affiliations are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily imply endorsement of the above statement by the professional/organizational affiliation. 8/17/2012 Philip Glaser, DDS Maureen Lee-Dutra, DVM Laguna Niguel, CA Nancy E. Levine, PhD Catherine Gonzalez, PhD Professor Clinical Psychologist Department of Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles Patricia