Smith+Nephew is committed to developing safe and efficacious products for our patients.
Approach to Testing
Where a non-animal method can provide equivalent data to an animal test and meet regulatory requirements, Smith+Nephew will preferentially use the non-animal method.
Ethical Process
In instances where regulations require animal methods, all proposed tests using animals are ethically reviewed by a Smith+Nephew expert panel to ensure the tests are scientifically justified and that all reasonable possibilities for replacement, reduction and refinement (3R's) have been considered in alignment with information published by the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). NC3Rs is a UK-based scientific organisation that works nationally and internationally with the research community to replace, refine and reduce the use of animals in research and testing. Application of the 3R's involves the following considerations:
Replacement - Wherever possible, a scientifically appropriate non-animal alternative method should be used.
Reduction - Reduction of the number of animals used whilst ensuring the study design meets its scientific aims.
Refinement - Negative impacts should be minimised or eliminated and welfare should be improved to provide enrichment that allows animals to behave naturally.
Smith+Nephew ensures that third parties conducting regulatory required animal testing on our behalf comply with applicable laws and procedures and are qualified to conduct the study being undertaken. For example, we work with academic partners and contract research organisations that have achieved third-party accreditations such as Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (“AAALAC”), ISO/IEC 17025 and/or US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or OECD principles of Good Laboratory Practice (“GLP”).
Smith+Nephew supports the development of alternative pre-clinical test methods and adopts such methods wherever possible. Smith+Nephew does not use transgenic animal models.
Burn wound management Burn wounds are a global public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalisation, disfigurement and disability – often accompanied by stigma and social rejection.1 Our aim is to help mitigate the complications associated with burn wounds.
Pressure injury prevention Trusted to reduce the incidence of pressure injuries when used as part of a comprehensive prevention program, compared to standard care alone.1-3
Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears Partial-thickness tears can have a lasting impact on pain and shoulder function. When used in isolated bioinductive repair, the REGENETEN◊ Bioinductive Implant leads to tendon healing without the need for sutured repair;1-4 offering patients a faster recovery and return to activity than sutured repairs.4,5
Chondral and osteochondral knee repair Treat knee cartilage lesions and osteochondral defects in a single-stage procedure, even in the presence of mild to moderate osteoarthritis (Kellgren-Lawrence 0-3),1,2 with the porous, biocompatible CARTIHEAL◊ AGILI-C◊ Cartilage Repair Implant; shown to be clinically superior to the current surgical standard of care in level 1 clinical data.*1,2