Asahi Kasei Medical contributes to life and living for people around the world through the development and provision of medical devices.

To assess the quality, safety, and efficacy of medical devices, the use of animals is sometimes required, but use of animals in research must be predicated on consideration for animal welfare and sound scientific reasoning.

To ensure consideration for animal welfare and the application of sound scientific reasoning, Asahi Kasei Medical has created Basic Guidelines on Animal Care and Use, based on the regulations, standards, and guidelines listed below, and established a Committee on Animal Care and Use (CACU) to oversee implementation of the Basic Guidelines:

• Act on Welfare and Management of Animals
• Standards Relating to the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals and Relief of Pain
• Guidelines on Methods of Sacrificing Animals
• Basic Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Animal Testing and Related Activities in the Research Institutions under the Jurisdiction of the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
• Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Animal Experiments

The CACU investigates whether animal studies have been planned and were conducted in conformance with the principles of the 3Rs:

• Replacement – use of methods which avoid or replace the use of animals,
• Reduction – use of methods which minimize the number of animals used per study, and
• Refinement – use of methods which minimize suffering and improve animal welfare.

Furthermore, in the event that we entrust animal studies to a third party, the CACU verifies prior to initiation of any third-party study that appropriate studies will be conducted based on consideration for animal welfare.

For all our employees involved with animal studies, we conduct continuing education and training one or more times a year related to animal studies and laboratory animals, and train employees in the proper implementation of animal studies.

We conduct regular internal audits of our research with laboratory animals to verify our compliance with government regulations and our Basic Guidelines on Animal Care and Use.

The head of Asahi Kasei Medical research approves animal study plans and reviews on-going animal studies, educational training, and internal compliance audits, taking corrective measures as required.

Asahi Kasei Medical obtained accreditation as an animal care and use facility from Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center.