Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.

Protagonist Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company whose drug development pipeline relies on animal testing. The company’s lead investigational compound, rusfertide, progressed through preclinical studies that required animal models to assess safety and efficacy before human trials. This reliance on animal testing is standard for the pharmaceutical industry but constitutes commercial exploitation of animals as defined by the firm’s exclusion policy.

While specific details of Protagonist’s animal testing protocols are not disclosed in public filings, the company’s regulatory submissions and clinical trial authorizations implicitly confirm that animal data formed a foundational component of its development process. The FDA’s removal of a clinical hold on rusfertide studies in 2021 followed a review of data that included preclinical animal studies. As a company with no marketed products, its entire value proposition is built on a research and development model that necessitates animal experimentation.