A LABORATORY in Daresbury has received 'significant funding' for its ethical testing research.

XCellR8 Ltd, which is based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, has secured a £51,000 grant from the charity Animal Aid to help with research into animal-free safety tests.

These would then be used in the cosmetics, personal care and chemical industries.

The aim is to replace tests currently in use for more ethical testing, as at present they involve giving lethal doses of chemicals to animals.

Carol Treasure, founder and chief executive of XCellR8, said: "We are immensely grateful to Animal Aid for this huge show of support for our mission to develop scientifically and ethically advanced safety testing.

"Our values are closely aligned, driven by the desire to eradicate animal suffering and cruelty, so we are excited to work alongside them to raise awareness about the need to replace animal-based acute toxicity testing with more human relevant approaches from both ethical and scientific viewpoints.

"This funding paves the way to develop robust non-animal laboratory tests and make them available to industry, directly reducing the numbers of animals used."

More than 80,000 animals are still used annually in toxicity testing in the EU alone according to Animal Aid.

Director Iain Green added: "Animal Aid is delighted to be announcing our support for XCellR8 and its ground-breaking work to replace the outdated and incredibly cruel LD50 test.

"It's incredible that tests such as these persist today. "The tide is turning against animal experiments – the scientific evidence of their unreliability and the public repulsion at the breeding, harming and killing of animals is mounting every day.

"It's time for humane, cutting-edge science, the likes of which is exemplified by XCellR8."