2008
May: The HSUS attends Allergan's Annual Shareholder Meeting
April: The Washington Post runs a front page story on animal testing, quoting the HSUS's Dr. Martin Stephens on Botox testing; HSUS and FRAME presented poster on Botox testing a European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare symposium on "Alternatives to Animal Testing"
February: ICCVAM releases final "Report on the ICCVAM-NICEATM/ECVAM Scientific Workshop on Alternative Methods to Refine, Reduce or Replace the Mouse LD50 Assay for Botulinum Toxin Testing"
2007
November: The HSUS submits Shareholder Resolution asking Allergan to "issue a report, updated annually and omitting proprietary information, disclosing the Corporation's recent activities and future plans to eliminate the animal-based LD50 test from the manufacturing process of Botox and Botox Cosmetic"
September: The HSUS submits comments on "Draft Report on Alternative Methods for Botulinum Testing Workshop"
August: ICCVAM issues Draft Report on Alternative Methods for Botulinum Testing Workshop; The HSUS and the Fund for the Replacement of Animal Experiments (FRAME) present poster on Botox testing at 6th World Congress on Alternatives & Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Tokyo
February: The HSUS holds conference call with FDA to resolve remaining issues with 2005 HSUS litigation against FDA
2006
November: ICCVAM holds Scientific Workshop on Alternative Methods to Refine, Reduce and Replace the Mouse LD50 Assay For Botulinum Toxin Testing
August: ICCVAM releases a second Federal Register notice announcing they would move forward with a workshop and requesting existing in vivo (animal) and in vitro (non-animal) data; The HSUS receives letter from FDA denying remainder of FOIA request
July: The HSUS sends letter to FDA noting they failed to meet their June 30, 2006 deadline to provide full response to FOIA request
June: The HSUS receives partial response to FOIA request
March: The HSUS submits comments supporting ICCVAM's proposed workshop on alternatives to Botox testing
January: ICCVAM releases a Federal Register notice agreeing with SACATM's recommendation and requesting feedback on whether an expert workshop is an appropriate first step in addressing the issue
2005
December: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods (SACATM) concludes that "A review of the state-of-the-science for 3R alternatives to current botulinum toxin potency testing methods in a step-wise fashion should be a high priority for ICCVAM"; receives partial response to FOIA request, with the remaining documents promised by June 30, 2006
October: The HSUS submits Test Method Nomination to the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) for "Alternative Methods to Replace the Mouse LD50 Assay for Botulinum Toxin Potency Testing"
August: The HSUS and the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments give presentation on Botox testing at 5th World Congress on Alternatives & Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Berlin
June: The HSUS sues FDA to obtain information requested in previous two FOIA requests
April: The HSUS appeals FDA's (constructive) denial of 2nd FOIA request
2004
October: The HSUS writes to Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford asking for the information requested in two previous FOIA requests
October: The HSUS goes public with the information that Allergan tests every batch of Botox, after many attempts at engaging Allergan in an open dialogue
September: Congressman Price sends letter to FDA acting commissioner requesting information on Botox
July: The HSUS submits a second FOIA request after the first produces documents of little relevance to our original request
April: The HSUS submits a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking for information in its guidance on the potency testing of Botox
January: The HSUS sends a letter to Allergan expressing concern over the company's use of the LD50 testing of BOTOX® and Botox® Cosmetic for potency. HSUS asks that they devote a small portion of their profits to finding an alternative
Updated May 5, 2008
