"Qualifying antibodies as vegan would mandate that generation, analysis, and production are achieved without the use of animals or animal-derived materials [...].
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[...] materials such as donor blood-derived human antibody DNA or the human HEK293 production cell line are not considered animal-derived because they do not originate from animals, which typically include mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits, horses, goats, sheep and guinea pigs but may also include monkeys, chickens, dogs, llamas, and sharks.
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Conversely, today any recombinant animal- or non-animal-derived antibody could also be produced in a vegan cell culture system. Since this map shows several paths consisting entirely of green arrows, “vegan” antibodies are indeed a reality.
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[...] a passage of the hybridoma line through the abdomen of a living mouse,
where they generate an ascites tumor that is very painful for the laboratory animals. [...] Instead of using the ascites method to save deteriorating or contaminated hybridoma lines, recombinant production could be used. Moreover, an “Antibody Heritage Program” to generate recombinant versions of all available hybridomas would not cause more animal use, but assure the long-term survival of valuable monoclonals and upgrade them with the advantages of the recombinant format. This would even allow their fully vegan production – of course, not qualifying them as vegan antibodies, but it would be a step to reduce animal suffering.
[...]
In addition, various systems for the plant-based production of antibodies have been developed, offering an undisputable vegan solution.
[...]
Various materials derived from animals may also be used in the assays that are an integral part of the discovery and production processes. Bovine serum albumin or skimmed milk powder is typically used as blocking reagents in the ELISA screening required to identify the correct clones or test the correct function of production batches. These animal-derived reagents can be replaced by chemically synthesized or plant-derived materials (Abcalis, personal communication). While we cannot completely avoid animal use in the development of therapeutic antibodies, we now have a choice to go the “vegan” way of antibody making for many research applications.
The author would like to reiterate his opinion that legal restrictions on the use of animals for the production of antibodies would considerably hinder research and the development of drugs. Rather, efforts should be made to improve general access to non-animal-derived antibodies, allowing more researchers to recognize the intrinsic advantages of in vitro-derived antibodies. Wider use of animal-free methods for the generation of antibodies should be encouraged, as the resulting use of defined recombinant reagents would be beneficial not only for the animals but also for the quality and reproducibility of our experimental results.
" [Dübel 2024]
[...] a passage of the hybridoma line through the abdomen of a living mouse,
where they generate an ascites tumor that is very painful for the laboratory animals. [...] Instead of using the ascites method to save deteriorating or contaminated hybridoma lines, recombinant production could be used. Moreover, an “Antibody Heritage Program” to generate recombinant versions of all available hybridomas would not cause more animal use, but assure the long-term survival of valuable monoclonals and upgrade them with the advantages of the recombinant format. This would even allow their fully vegan production – of course, not qualifying them as vegan antibodies, but it would be a step to reduce animal suffering.
[...]
In addition, various systems for the plant-based production of antibodies have been developed, offering an undisputable vegan solution.
[...]
Various materials derived from animals may also be used in the assays that are an integral part of the discovery and production processes. Bovine serum albumin or skimmed milk powder is typically used as blocking reagents in the ELISA screening required to identify the correct clones or test the correct function of production batches. These animal-derived reagents can be replaced by chemically synthesized or plant-derived materials (Abcalis, personal communication). While we cannot completely avoid animal use in the development of therapeutic antibodies, we now have a choice to go the “vegan” way of antibody making for many research applications.
The author would like to reiterate his opinion that legal restrictions on the use of animals for the production of antibodies would considerably hinder research and the development of drugs. Rather, efforts should be made to improve general access to non-animal-derived antibodies, allowing more researchers to recognize the intrinsic advantages of in vitro-derived antibodies. Wider use of animal-free methods for the generation of antibodies should be encouraged, as the resulting use of defined recombinant reagents would be beneficial not only for the animals but also for the quality and reproducibility of our experimental results.
" [Dübel 2024]