Safer Human Medicine has received approval to create one of the largest monkey breeding complexes in the country in Georgia. The project is estimated to cost $396 million, reports USA Today.
A new farm near Bainbridge will breed long-tailed macaques for sale to pharmaceutical companies, universities, and laboratories. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the goal of housing 30,000 animals is anticipated to be achieved within nine years.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, monkeys, due to their genetic similarity to humans, play a key role in research that has led to the development of innovative treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, polio, COVID-19, and others. However, in recent years, there has been a severe shortage of these animals in the U.S. Previously, most monkeys were imported from China, which halted their export to the U.S. in 2020.
Since then, North American biomedical research centers have been trying to expand their breeding facilities despite protests from local residents, the publication reports.
