Pharma Giant Sanofi Drops Near-Drowning Tests on Animals

Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi confirmed that it no longer subjects animals to the cruel and useless forced swim test. The announcement follows a campaign by PETA entities worldwide that included outreach from our scientists and more than 440,000 e-mails from members and supporters. The statement on the company’s website reads, “Sanofi does not use the Porsolt swim test. We have no research projects that involve the use of this test and have no plans for this test to be used in the future, either in-house or at a contract research partner.” Sanofi previously terrorized more than 1,500 mice and rats in this test—in which sensitive animals are forced to swim for their lives in inescapable beakers of water—between 1993 and 2019, failing to produce a single usable antidepressant.