EXPERIMENTATION, HISTORY, AND COMMUNICATION: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE

Thalidomide, Bendectin, and TGN 1412 are three important events in the history of animal testing that could offer some suggestions of how to manage social resistance on this topic. The history of thalidomide recounts a tragedy of the past that today represents a typical case of public misunderstanding of the pivotal role of animal experimentation for pharmaceutical development. The history of Bendectin explains how to avoid the scientific authority in favor of empirical evidences in the public discussion of animal testing, with specific concerns in relation to legal trials. Last but not least, the recent history of TGN 1412, a humanized monoclonal antibody—an immunomodulatory drug intended to treat B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis—withdrawn from development after inducing severe inflammatory reactions in the first-in-man study (phase 0) at Parexel in London in March 2006, recently started to casts doubts on testing guidelines, especially concerning the animal to man “transferability.” In the light of the future biomedical research, focused on monoclonal antibody therapy with an exquisite, almost individual, specificity, the latter case should be taken as a case study of how to prevent social criticism and address correct public understanding