Yesterday, July 20, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 2821). The bipartisan bill would require the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to remove outdated animal-testing requirements from its regulations.
The Senate unanimously passed the same legislative language in December 2025. The Senate must now formally approve the House-passed version before it can be sent to the President and signed into law.
A Major Step Away from Animal Testing
Congress passed the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 in 2022, removing a longstanding legal requirement that new drugs be tested on animals. But outdated regulations of the FDA have continued to refer specifically to animal tests, creating barriers to the use of modern, human-relevant research methods.
The FDA Modernization Act 3.0 would require the agency to finally bring those regulations in line with the law. Within one year of enactment, the FDA would have to replace regulatory references to animal tests, studies, and models with broader language recognizing nonclinical research—including non-animal methods.
This legislation won’t end animal experimentation overnight. But it would remove outdated mandates, make space for better science, and help prevent animals from being used simply because regulations have failed to keep up.
It would also align with last year’s FDA announcement that the agency is phasing out animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs—favoring instead New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
You Helped Make This Possible
This progress didn’t happen on its own. Animal advocates contacted their legislators and urged them to support the FDA Modernization Act 3.0. And lawmakers listened.
Among the advocates who contacted Congress were thousands of Rise for Animals’ supporters who sent letters through our online Advocacy Center. You made it clear that animals—and ethical, human-relevant science—matter.
Sending one message to your members of Congress can feel like an inconsequential act. But when thousands of us speak up together, those messages become pressure that lawmakers can’t easily ignore.
To everyone who took action: Thank you.
Let’s Keep the Momentum Going
The FDA Modernization Act 3.0 shows that advocacy works. But we know our work is far from finished, so we’re capitalizing on this momentum to drive even more beneficial change for animals trapped in labs.
The SPARE Act would go much further than the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 by:
- Phasing out animal experimentation conducted or funded by federal agencies,
- Investing in the transition to non-animal research, and
- Requiring the release of eligible animals held in federally funded laboratories for adoption or sanctuary placement.
The SPARE Act has been introduced in the House, but it needs more support to advance. That’s where you come in.
Please take two minutes now to urge your members of Congress to support the SPARE Act.
The progress we’re celebrating today began with people like you choosing to act. Together, we can turn this win into the next, and keep moving toward a future in which no animal is treated as a disposable laboratory tool.