Scientists who experiment on laboratory animals face difficulties owing to the ban on taking such animals on flights, said Vijay Pal Singh, president of Laboratory Animal Scientists Association (LASA-India).
He said that since this is currently a major challenge in drug discovery research in the country, scientists, including the LASA executive body, are trying to end the ban, which, according to sources, was instituted by airline operators in June 2024. Laboratory animals are not allowed on flights by airlines reportedly owing to the problem of positive pressure cabins in the designated areas of the aircraft.
Mr. Singh was in the city to review the 13th International Conference of LASA on ‘Preclinical Insights from Animal Studies on Drug Discovery and Translational Research’ to be held in the city on December 19-20.
Speaking exclusively to The Hindu on Sunday, Mr. Singh said: “The airlines have resorted to a ban on laboratory animals due to the incident of laboratory rats escaping from a container and roaming inside the aircraft. We suspect that this might have happened on the flight (AI840) that departed from Hyderabad to Delhi at 8.40 p.m. on January 31, 2024. The ban on our laboratory animals on flights is a major issue for us. We are trying to convince the government to lift the ban. It is a difficult task for us to transport such animals by road from one place to another in the country. We will also try to bring this matter to the notice of Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu.”
According to LASA sources, several million small and large animals are used for drug discovery and development of new therapeutic molecules. Around 12 to 25 types of laboratory animals are used in studies worldwide. They are mice, rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, pigs, monkeys, horses, birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs as well as a number of amphibian and reptile species. The same animals are used in India as well.
The animals are provided by various Union government approved research centres and breeders. The Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) has to approve the process. Preclinical studies on animals include in vivo pharmacology studies, safety and toxicity studies.
All tests should be carried out by CCSEA approved laboratories and by a qualified scientist adhering to protocols instituted by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee.
The government is not directly involved in drug discovery. It entails research by various institutes and universities like DST, DBT, ICMR and CSIR through funds (around ₹5,000 crore a year) provided by the government. India has discovered around 10-12 drugs, and our major contribution has been the Covishield and Covaxin during the COVID-19 pandemic, said a pharmaceutical scientist on the condition of anonymity.
Published – November 30, 2025 07:36 pm IST
