PETA is pointing fingers at Eli Lilly. The pharmaceutical giant has been asked to explain its decision of outsourcing animal testing to certain countries which lack proper animal welfare standards and this goes against the principle of the company for replacement of use of animals for drug testing.

This comes as an embarrassment for company which is still under the scanner regarding the conduct of the CRO which the company used on a regular basis. It seems that the company is running back from its commitment and is trying to escape stringent US animal welfare laws by opting for countries which have relaxed rules as far as animal testing is concerned.

Here is an excerpt from Eli Lilly’s Animal Care and Use Policy:

We are committed to the careful and thorough evaluation of our products using the best scientific technologies available. Meeting this commitment requires the use of animals. We recognise that, in doing so, we have an ethical and scientific obligation to ensure the appropriate treatment of animals used in research, to minimise the number of animals involved, and to pursue the development of alternative test systems.

It now seems that hollow promises were made by the company but PETA is certainly doing a great job by highlighting the case in order to ensure that justice is done.