Looking back on the animal-free highlights of 2025

We look back on a turbulent year, both nationally and internationally. Amidst this turbulence, we remained focused on our goal: paving the way for animal-free research and testing. And in that regard, we have made significant progress again this year. We summarise the most important highlights for you in this article. Would you like to read along?

1. Support for nine animal-free research pilot projects

Contributing to animal-free science – that is our ultimate goal. Our main focus is to ensure that animal testing is no longer carried out. But there is more to it than that. As far as we are concerned, animal material should no longer be used for research purposes at all. There are plenty of alternatives that yield equally good or even better results. That is why, in 2025, we supported nine pilot projects that pioneered animal-free research, such as Aram’s research. With just £5,000 per pilot project, we prevented suffering for thousands of animals.

The need for pioneering

An example of animal material that is widely used is foetal calf serum (FCS). The extraction of this material involves a great deal of animal suffering. Unnecessary, as the pilot projects show. Animal-free alternatives are available – it is just a matter of researching which material is most suitable and how to use it in research. We salute the researchers who stuck their necks out for this cause over the past year.

We will continue to support pilot projects for animal-free research in the coming year. We are broadening our scope and focusing on alternatives to Matrigel, a material extracted from tumours in laboratory mice. What makes this even more special is that researchers recently achieved a significant breakthrough with Matrigel. They discovered that organoids (miniature organs grown in the laboratory) grow just as well, and sometimes even better, in an animal-free gel (PIC gel) as in the conventional animal-based variant (Matrigel). This is promising for the future. Stay tuned!

2. Animal lover Sonja walked her way to raising €3,923

This is not the first time that Sonja Tepper has raised money for Proefdiervrij by participating in the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. But what she achieved with her feet this year is an absolute record. She set her goal at a far too modest €1,000, as it turned out afterwards. She exceeded that by no less than 392%. We are incredibly proud and delighted with her achievement, which helps us to further promote animal-free research.

Fiery plea against animal testing

Sonja walked 30 kilometres every day in Nijmegen from 15 July to 18 July. Animal-free research is close to her heart. She works in healthcare herself and therefore knows how badly good medicines are needed. But not at the expense of animals. On her campaign page, she wrote a passionate plea against the use of laboratory animals. Her argument touched people: she managed to attract no fewer than 183 donors to her cause. This was not the first time, by the way: Sonja has walked the Nijmegen Four Days Marches with us as a charity before. Isn’t that great? Thank you, Sonja!

3. Our greatest highlight is you: our 37,508 donors

We believe in a world without laboratory animals. And we work hard every day to achieve this. We need your support – our donors – just as much. There are so many of you: over 37,000! Imagine if this wonderful group of people were to gather at Malieveld in The Hague: it would be a beautiful, united crowd. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help!

Every donation counts

There are many ways to donate. From once a year to every month. From donations in response to a specific appeal or campaign to a structural donation for a minimum of five years via a tax-efficient donation agreement. And everything is good, everything helps. But what really makes us feel good? That there are more people who share our mission: to end animal suffering in testing laboratories. There are so many of us. Hurrah!

4. Animal-Free Research Event 2025: moving forward together with science and business

We need each other to achieve 100% animal-free research: scientists, companies, politicians and citizens. Scientists to research innovative, animal-free methods and embrace new methods in research. Companies to validate these new methods and bring them to market. Politicians and regulators for legislation and regulations, citizens for the indispensable public support. We cannot do without each other. We look back with pride on last year’s Animal-Free Research Event, which was attended by all these parties.

Inspiration that sticks

We welcomed a large group of scientists and ten companies, including Miltenyi, Sino Biological, Mimetas, Sanquin, StemX Bio, VelTox and NestEgg Labs. They were introduced to Proefdiervrij, to progressive scientists and to the inspiring stories of Fybrix, MAT Research, AstraZeneca and the 3Rs Centre, among others, about their alternatives to animal research materials. Meanwhile, we are continuing to build our business network and prepare for the next edition of the Proefdiervrij Event. This will enable us to involve even more scientists and companies in our event and, more importantly, in our mission in the coming year.

“During this year’s Proefdiervrij Event, our connecting role became very clear. People and parties who would not normally meet were now talking to each other. The discussions were always respectful, with people listening to each other’s arguments with genuine interest. I dare say that new bridges have been built here towards a world without animal testing.”

Debby Weijers, director of Proefdiervrij

5. HeartSmart wins Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2025

In 2025, we celebrated five years of the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge. And we did so with a special winner: HeartSmart came out on top. This team is working on a groundbreaking method to better understand human heart disease and develop new treatments – entirely without animal testing. In addition to the title, HeartSmart received €25,000 to further kick-start their start-up.

Entering the market with animal-free methods

The Animal-Free Venture Challenge is important to us. Research into animal-free methods is the first step. But after that, we want these methods to be used in everyday research practice. This means that scientists have to turn their method into a “product” that they can sell. Setting up a start-up – a new company – is one way to achieve this. For many researchers, this requires quite a shift in mindset, as it is far removed from their daily work. With the challenge, we give researchers the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice and help them a long way towards setting up their business.

There is plenty of enthusiasm for this, as last year showed: no fewer than nine strong teams signed up for the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge, of which four teams were selected to participate. There is one winner, but everyone gets a prize: thanks to the intensive process, all teams will emerge with a solid business case and more focused plans for an innovative, animal-free future.

6. Double news from Europe

In the EU, too, more and more Member States are recognising the need to reduce animal testing. This is important because we depend on Europe for many laws and regulations. And because science simply operates internationally in many areas. In 2025, there was good news on two fronts. Chemical substances now only need to be tested once, instead of once per application. This is a significant step towards reducing animal testing in Europe.

Half of the Member States must participate

And point two? Here it is: animal-free innovations are on the European Union’s new science agenda, the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027. This is a first! This item on the research agenda concerns the development and application of research methods without laboratory animals – the so-called New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). The Netherlands will play a leading role as co-chair. This means that we will not only participate, but also have a say in how this action is organised. And it gets even better, because we at Proefdiervrij have been asked to contribute our expertise. So this is good news for millions of laboratory animals throughout Europe!

7. Sparking conversation about a future without animal testing

You’re either for it or against it. Right? That’s how heated the debate around animal-free research sometimes seems to be. But it’s not always that black and white, as we noticed during The Transparent Transition. This conference was organised by ACTA (Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC.

Our director Debby Weijers was a speaker on a panel about animal-free research. The central question was: can we actually do without animal testing? And if not, why not? It is important for us to participate in this discussion. Not only to demonstrate the necessity of animal-free research, but also to seek out and emphasise shared interests. When we highlight these common ground, we can more quickly gain support and get people moving towards our mission: a world without animal testing.

Shared basis as a starting point

A diverse group of people participated in the panel discussion. Everyone listened carefully to each other and responded respectfully. This fits in seamlessly with our position: don’t focus on the differences, but look for common ground and use that as a starting point. We are further along than you think.

8. Satisfied employees = full steam ahead for our mission

This year, we received an award ourselves, from market research agency Markteffect. The award was for the highest employee satisfaction score. And yes, that makes us quite proud (and secretly happy that our hard work is being noticed).

But… the real reward is not the award itself, of course, but the fact that we enjoy working together every day towards a future without animal testing. Because in a team that works well together, that’s just easier to achieve.

9. Launch of Ombion Centre for Animal-Free Biomedical Translation

In July, the Ombion Centre for Animal-Free Biomedical Translation was officially launched. A fantastic milestone! This centre helps researchers develop new medicines without using animals. Ombion is initially focusing on the medical research areas of ALS, cystic fibrosis, osteoarthritis & rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma & COPD.

From science to practice

More than 60 partners collaborate in Ombion: universities, educational institutions, research institutions, companies, regulatory bodies, government organisations, patient organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders. From 2025 to 2034, the centre will have a budget of €245 million at its disposal. More than half of the funding will come from the National Growth Fund. The rest will come from public and private partners. We also contributed €75,000.

“As far as I am concerned, Stichting Proefdiervrij (Foundation for Animal-Free Research) is one of the driving forces behind Ombion. We have been working together for years. Proefdiervrij keeps us, other partners and politicians on our toes by asking the right, critical questions. I look forward to continuing this collaboration in the coming years.”

Daniela Salvatori, scientific director of Ombion

10. Launch of the national 1 in 8 campaign

Many people are opposed to animal suffering. Yet not everyone is aware of the extent of the suffering endured by laboratory animals. That is why we launched a national campaign during the summer months. The message was clear: only one in eight laboratory animals survives the laboratory. You probably remember the Wheel of Animal Suffering. It was a powerful image that instantly conveyed the sad fate of laboratory animals. The campaign also included an appeal: will you help stop this animal suffering?

Impressive figures

With the advertising message before and after podcasts, we reached 200,000 listeners. In Het Parool, Nederlands Dagblad and De Telegraaf, more than 1.3 million readers saw the full-page advertisement featuring former lab dog Lola wearing lipstick. Almost 1.2 million people heard our radio commercial. That number is likely to double: in December, our message will be heard on national radio for another two weeks. Through public television and channels such as National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery Science, we reached over 8 million people, who saw our advertisement more than once. Almost 1.7 million people saw our message on screens in shopping centres and supermarkets, among other places, also more than once on average. Finally, approximately 300,000 people saw our motorway advertisement twice on average.

Together against animal suffering

The campaign reached a large audience. And that is important: the more people know about the suffering that laboratory animals have to endure, the more supporters there will be for animal-free research. We have also welcomed a wonderful group of new donors. Welcome! Together we can make a difference.

11. Cruel rabbit testing finally a thing of the past in Europe

Since July, researchers are no longer allowed to use rabbits to test whether a medicine or vaccine causes fever. This was a cruel test, after which the rabbits were often killed as a matter of course. This terrible method of testing has been replaced by the Monocyte Activation Test (MAT), a method that uses human cells and is more reliable, more human-centred and more animal-friendly.

It can and must be done faster

This is great news, absolutely. But we did take a critical stance: did it really have to take this long? The MAT method has been available since 2010 as a proven animal-free alternative. It is extremely unfortunate that the rabbit test has only now – 15 years later – been banned as an option.

Couldn’t this have been done more quickly? That is why we responded to this news by sounding the alarm once again, for example with a strong opinion piece by our director Debby Weijers

12. Faster and better from research to validation with AI

New medicines are desperately needed. Developing them takes a lot of time and money. Can this be done smarter and faster? The partners behind MechPath – alongside us, these are research agency TNO, biotechnology company Galapagos and LACDR (Leiden University) – are convinced it can. At MechPath, we are working on an animal-free AI model that takes into account the differences between patient groups. This should help predict how different patients will respond to a particular medicine. Animal-free research is better suited to this than research involving animals. Results from animal testing cannot be easily translated to patients: animals are not humans.

Progress for animals and humans

MechPath conducts research and develops validation tools so that new animal-free methods are approved more quickly and used in research into new medicines. This is good news for laboratory animals and for patients, who will benefit from new treatments more quickly.

Collaborations such as MechPath make an important contribution to the way we develop medicines: faster, cheaper, animal-free and better tailored to specific patients. A fourfold win!

13. More money for animal-free innovations, less for monkey testing

Monkeys are sensitive, social animals. Knowing this, it is hard to comprehend that 150 monkeys are used every year at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in Rijswijk for research into diseases such as HIV, malaria and brain disorders. But things are changing. The money that our country spends each year on monkey testing is gradually shifting to animal-free alternatives. Hurrah! By 2030, the entire amount (€12.5 million) will go to research without animals.

Years of commitment

This decision did not come out of the blue. It is the result of years of work. As early as 2016, politicians called for a reduction in funding for monkey testing, but concrete steps were slow to materialise. Until now. This is good news for the monkeys, but also for researchers and patients. This decision means that investment is finally being made in research that is more relevant to the human body.

With this latest milestone, we are celebrating an important step. One that shows that change is possible if you persevere, work together and dare to believe in a future where animal-free testing is the norm.

Moving forward to 2026 with the same energy

Describing the highlights of the past year gave us renewed energy: significant progress has been made in the field of animal-free research over the past year. There is growing awareness of animal suffering and of the often better alternatives to animal testing. And what are we doing now? We are not sitting back, but continuing our efforts.

This is what we will be doing in the coming year:

• In the coming years, we will focus on three pillars: more animal-free innovations, more confidence in those animal-free innovations, and more use of animal-free innovations.
• All three pillars will continue to receive our attention in 2026, but we will place slightly more emphasis on the last one: ensuring that animal-free innovations are actually used in scientific practice. We will do this by supporting start-ups with our Animal-Free Venture Challenge and by contributing in other ways to the validation of new animal-free research methods.
• We will further strengthen our ties with the younger generation of scientists – they are the future. In this area, we are working with various universities and partners from our network.
• We will continue to fund research, but will be more critical in our selection of animal-free resources. Research involving the use of foetal calf serum (FCS) will no longer receive funding from us. In time, we will also add the use of Matrigel to this list.

The year 2025 demonstrated that change is truly possible if we work together. In 2026, we will continue to build on this foundation with courage, confidence, and mutual support. Will you join us?