WILMINGTON, Del.— A coalition of pharmaceutical companies and conservation groups launched the Sustainability Scorecard for Endotoxin Testing to accelerate the adoption of synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood, which is used for safety testing in vaccines and injectable drugs.
A joint initiative of Revive & Restore, the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition and the Center for Biological Diversity, the scorecard will measure and track the adoption of synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood at the world’s 50 largest pharmaceutical companies.
“This scorecard will be an opportunity to celebrate companies that are already helping to protect horseshoe crabs by transitioning to synthetics,” said Will Harlan, Southeast director and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These companies recognize that synthetics are a far more secure source for medical safety tests than the blood of a dwindling and critically imperiled species.”
The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to list the horseshoe crab in January. Horseshoe crabs are currently listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Horseshoe crabs play an essential role in the survival of migratory shorebirds, including the federally protected red knot.
“The plummeting horseshoe crab population threatens the delicate balance of our coastal ecosystems,” said Larry Niles, wildlife biologist and co-founder of the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition. “Shorebirds like the red knot, and other marine species, rely on these ancient creatures for their protein-rich eggs. Switching to synthetic alternatives for biomedical testing is a simple, effective way to protect horseshoe crabs without compromising public health.”
Despite the American horseshoe crab’s critical ecological function and precarious population status, about 1.1 million crabs are currently bled alive every year for use by the biomedical industry. That marks an increase of about 115% since 2018. Up to 30% of crabs don’t survive the bleeding process, and the ones that do often can’t reproduce when returned to the ocean.
Safe and effective synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood have been available for decades. However, adoption has languished because of the lack of clear guidelines. On Nov. 1, the U.S. Pharmacopeia Microbiology Expert Committee published guidelines that removed a significant barrier holding the pharmaceutical industry back from replacing horseshoe crab-derived limulus amoebocyte lysate with synthetic alternatives for medicine testing.
“The sustainability scorecard is intended to encourage pharmaceutical companies to do the right thing, and to recognize companies already committed to change,” says Ryan Phelan, co-founder and executive director of Revive & Restore. “Doing the right thing means stopping the harvest and removing the use of this vulnerable, ancient species from drug manufacturing processes.”
To gather information for the scorecard, starting in December 2024, the coalition will provide a survey to representatives from the 50 largest pharmaceutical companies, as measured by total revenue in 2023.
The survey asks questions about the companies’ endotoxin testing methodologies and their plans to transition to synthetic alternatives. The scorecard operates on a point system and each question is weighted. A company’s total number of points corresponds to a sustainability rating. The more points, the higher the rating.
The scorecard is an ongoing project that will engage the pharmaceutical community, conservation groups and consumers in important conversations about the value of biotechnology to protect and restore biodiversity. Learn more about the Sustainability Scorecard at www.pharmascore.org. Survey results and sustainability ratings will be available at that website beginning in February 2025.
