ZeClinics is a Spanish CRO specialized in zebrafish research. Simone Calzolari, CEO, explains the technical and financial advantages of using zebrafish – not legally recognized as animals – in pharmaceutical development. The CEO explains that there are at least ten ongoing clinical studies with molecules that were screened with zebrafish, but none have been commercialized yet, adding that the fish is useful to study cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, as well as cancer. Although the US FDA and EMA do not currently allow companies to include zebrafish studies in Investigational New Drug (IND) applications, Calzolari believes that both regulators eventually will.
The technical and economic advantage of using zebrafish is due to the ability to study multiple organisms in a reduced space.
