Congress·Passed Senate·S. 355

Senate Passes FDA Modernization Act 3.0, Expanding Drug Testing Beyond Animal-Only Experiments

FDA Modernization Act 3.0

3 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

✓ Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

Tells the Food and Drug Administration to quickly update its rules so drug companies are not locked into using only animal tests before human trials
Changes the wording in many drug approval rules so they say “nonclinical tests” instead of only “animal tests,” opening the door to lab-grown tissue, computer models, and other newer methods
Keeps drug safety rules in place but lets companies choose from more modern testing tools that may be faster, cheaper, and use fewer animals
Orders these updates to take effect quickly, without long delays, so the law passed in 2023 about new testing methods can actually be used in real drug applications
Could, over time, speed up how new medicines and vaccines reach patients by making the early testing stage more flexible

HealthcarePrescription DrugsTechnology

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Mixed Impacts(1)

Chronic Illness

Neutral

Milestones

4 milestones9 actions

Dec 17, 2025House

Held at the desk.

Dec 17, 2025House

Received in the House.

Dec 17, 2025Senate

Message on Senate action sent to the House.

Dec 16, 2025Senate

Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S8794)

Dec 16, 2025

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

Around the same time as the interim final rule or shortly after

FDA updates any other necessary regulation sections to stay consistent with the new “nonclinical tests” approach

Companies and researchers may see broader clean-up across FDA rules so different parts of the drug approval process use consistent terms and expectations.

Related News

4 articles

Axios·12 months ago

FDA plans to phase out animal testing requirements

The FDA announced it will begin phasing out animal testing requirements for antibody therapies and other drugs, moving toward AI-based models and 'human-relevant' tools. The move follows the legislative push from the FDA Modernization Act to reduce reliance on costly and often inaccurate animal models.

Politico·12 months ago

FDA moves to phase out animal tests for certain new drugs

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced a shift away from animal testing, a move directed by recent federal law. The agency will focus on monoclonal antibodies first, aiming to get treatments to patients faster while sparing primates and dogs from experiments.

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Healio·11 months ago

FDA takes steps to reduce animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies

The FDA announced plans to replace animal testing with AI-based computational modeling and human organ model-based lab testing. This approach follows the introduction of the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, intended to shore up implementation of previous reforms and reduce drug development costs.