EARA COMMENT: In defence of life-saving science: why Canada's primate research must continue

The New Democratic Party in Canada has launched a petition calling on the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to halt primate imports for biomedical research, based on a conflation of unproven allegations that could cost lives. While the petition is wrapped in animal conservation language, it conveniently ignores the millions of human lives saved by the very research it seeks to abolish. 

The core claim is that Canada is importing "wild-caught" monkeys laundered into the US as captive-bred. This is based on unproven allegations that Charles River Laboratories has categorically denied. The company maintains that all its primates come from certified, purpose-bred captive populations, exceeding international welfare standards and have not been charged with any wrongdoing. Additionally, the international shipping of monkeys is overseen by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Canada. Even if past documentation issues occurred—which remains unproven—the solution would be to strengthen verification systems, not to abandon life-saving research. 

The COVID Contradiction

The petition tries to leverage COVID-19 fears to argue against primate research, which is an undeniable contradiction once the vaccines that saved millions of lives during the pandemic were developed using macaque models. 

Before Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines were first administered in humans, they were extensively tested in macaques. Studies in Nature and Science document how primate research was essential for evaluating vaccine efficacy, assessing immune responses, testing safety profiles and developing therapeutic antibodies. The claim that we should stop primate research because COVID-19 may have been a zoonotic disease is flawed. Zoonotic diseases pose risks, but those risks are lessened by biomedical research that allows the study of diseases and the development of treatments and vaccines, including primate research, when there is no viable alternative. This claim also ignores the tight legislation regulating the housing and care conditions for animals in research, which mitigates this risk.

The article lists alternatives like organs-on-chips and computer modelling. These New Approach Methodologies are promising, but no combination of cell cultures and computer models can yet replicate the integrated complexity of a living organism's immune system and metabolism. Every major regulatory authority worldwide—FDA, EMA, Health Canada—requires animal testing, including primate studies where appropriate, before drugs enter human trials. The "three Rs" principle—Replace, Reduce, Refine—is already embedded in Canadian research ethics. Scientists use alternatives wherever possible because primate research is expensive and ethically demanding. 

Long-tailed macaques are endangered primarily due to habitat loss from deforestation and agriculture, not biomedical research. Purpose-bred, captive, self-sufficient populations don't deplete wild populations. The petition demands immediate suspension of all imports with no transitional period, no consideration of ongoing research, and no acknowledgement that critical drug trials and vaccine development programs would be halted, potentially delaying treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and emerging infectious diseases. 

The Human Cost 

Medical research involves difficult ethical trade-offs. Canada's stringent oversight framework ensures animals are only used when necessary, with minimal suffering. Canada won't end primate research; it will export it to countries with weaker protections while crippling our pandemic response capacity. 

The millions who survived COVID-19 (or who were protected from severe illness) weren't saved by computer models—they needed vaccines developed using primate research. Anyone advocating its abolition is willing to sacrifice human lives for their moral grandstanding.