Doctors Group Applauds CDC’s Decision to End Monkey Experiments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is applauding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to phase out all research on monkeys. The medical ethics group is now urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to follow the CDC’s lead and end experiments on monkeys.

“Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to phase out all of their monkey research,” according to an article published in the journal Science on Nov. 21, 2025.

“This move is historic. For the first time, a U.S. agency is choosing modern, human-relevant science over a failed system of monkey experiments,” says Janine McCarthy, MPH, acting director of research policy for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Now, the CDC should use that funding to transition human-relevant research and to ensure that these monkeys are sent to sanctuaries for the remainder of their lives.”

McCarthy added, “The CDC just sent a message to the entire biomedical establishment: The era of monkey experimentation is over.”

The CDC’s decision comes as the public health risks of monkey experimentation have become impossible to ignore. Over the past two decades, at least 15 monkey escapes from U.S. research facilities or transport have been publicly reported, each posing potential zoonotic disease risks to laboratory workers, first responders, transport personnel, and surrounding communities.

Beyond the safety risks, the scientific limitations of monkey research have been well documented. Nearly 92% of drugs that show promise in animal testing—often involving primates—fail when they enter human trials because they don’t translate to human safety or efficacy.

While both the NIH and FDA have announced commitments to reducing their reliance on animal research, each continues to conduct experiments on monkeys. The Physicians Committee is calling on both agencies to accelerate the transition to modern, human-based methods such as organoids, organ chips, and other advanced technologies that better model human biology and disease.

The Physicians Committee also emphasized the need for dedicated federal funding to ensure the safe and humane placement of the approximately 200 macaques currently housed in CDC facilities into accredited sanctuaries. Sanctuary placement will be essential to completing the transition away from primate research responsibly and transparently.

A Physicians Committee/Morning Consult survey found that the vast majority favoring phasing out animal experiments in favor or other human-relevant research methods.