Animal-free testing methods instead of animal suffering

Do you think of household appliances when you hear Siemens? What you may not know is that its spun-off subsidiary Siemens Healthineers is responsible for severe animal suffering. In supplier facilities, thousands of rabbits are kept under appalling conditions. This has already been exposed twice: in 2022 through undercover investigations by the NGO Aninova at a facility in Baden-Württemberg, and in 2025 by SOKO Tierschutz at a farm near Augsburg. Siemens Healthineers has ended its cooperation with the facility in Baden-Württemberg. However, it apparently continues to work with the farm near Augsburg, where rabbits are also used in animal experiments and bled. Our inquiries on this matter were answered only vaguely and inadequately. We have not yet received any response to further questions.

The rabbits suffer for antibody products that could also be produced without animals. Even the EU Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM) opposes the continued use of animals for antibody production.

Like all animal experiments, the use of rabbit blood must be abolished.

 

Animal-derived antibodies are unnecessary

Antibodies are protein molecules of the immune system that help identify and neutralize pathogens such as viruses or bacteria. They are used for example in diagnostics (e.g., pregnancy tests or the detection of infections). These antibodies are often produced in rabbits—meaning the animals are exploited as living bioreactors. This is not only ethically problematic; there are also better and more meaningful methods for humans. Techniques such as phage display technology, antibody mimetics, recombinant antibody production in cell culture, or production using diatoms are reproducible, cost-effective, and more broadly applicable.

Is the use of animal-derived antibodies even legal?

In our legal view: no. The law requires that animal experiments may only be conducted if they are “indispensable,” and this indispensability must be strictly verified.

In the case of developing and producing antibodies for diagnostics, the situation is clear: the intended purpose can certainly be achieved without animal testing.