A macaque is any of more than 20 species of Old World monkeys. All but one species, the Barbary macaque of North Africa, are Asian. Macaques are robust primates with dog-like muzzles and fur that is generally brown or black. Depending on the species, their tail may be long, short, or absent.

This article details the importance of the macaque as a research animal in the field of biomedical sciences. It delves into the broken supply chain caused by the export ban implemented by China and the consequences thereof.

The Irreplaceable Vanguard: Biology’s “Microchips”

To err is human. In the pharmaceutical industry, errors are costly, and they often translate into a loss of human life. The only way we can ensure that these errors never reach human beings is through repeated testing of the medicines and treatments. The issue with this is with the dawn of biologics – complex medicines made from living organisms – testing the treatments in dogs or rodents has become obsolete, especially since they often only bind to the targeted receptors in humans and non-human primates (NHPs).

While NHPs account for less than 1% of the animals used for medical testing, they are a gold standard in the field. This is because of the extreme similarity of the physiology, anatomy, genetic makeup, and behaviour of NHPs to those of humans, which makes them a more reliable test subject, according to research on NHPs conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For research into neurodegenerative diseases (like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s) and advanced interventions like Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), the macaque’s complex cerebral cortex is currently the only viable pre-human model. Since Macaques share about 93%-95% of human DNA, they are the most commonly used NHPs, especially cynomolgus (long-tailed) and rhesus macaques.

Macaques’ breeding cannot be “scaled up”. The gestation period of macaques is around 165 days, and they generally give birth to one infant. A macaque can only be considered physically mature enough for most clinical and research trials after a 2.5 – 3-year period. Because of this immovable biological timeline, national security and biomedical experts have begun referring to NHPs as the “microchips of biology”—a finite, hard-to-produce resource upon which an entire multi-billion-dollar global industry rests.

The Great Wall of Science: China’s Embargo and the Geopolitics of Primates

According to AAAS (Science), prior to 2020, China was the major supplier of Macaques into Europe and the US for biomedical research, accounting for approximately 60% of the global supply. But in 2020, due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, China rapidly implemented wildlife export restrictions that included a complete halt on macaque shipments. This caused a shortage of macaques around the globe.

The import of rhesus macaques went from over 950 during 2019 to less than 100 in 2021, as per the NIH. According to an NIH-commissioned survey, 64% of funded researchers reported difficulty in finding macaques for the tests. The same report stated that the prices of the macaques skyrocketed up to 200%, and nearly two-thirds of the requirement was left unfulfilled, which slowed down the process of vaccine development. The majority of the macaques remaining available during the initial period of the export ban were diverted to COVID-19 vaccine testing. China has since then not lifted the ban.

China, meanwhile, started hoarding macaques because of the increase in pre-clinical trials, which required nearly 30,000 macaques. As per a Sixth Tone report for a year after China had placed the export ban, the price of lab monkeys had soared from 15,000 yuan (then $2,280) per monkey in late 2016 to the current 62,000 yuan ($9,600). Abroad, the severed supply chain broke the market. Pre-pandemic prices of $5,000 to $8,000 per animal exploded to $20,000 to $30,000+ per macaque.

The Laundered Macaque: Cambodia’s Black Market and the Ecological Toll

China’s export ban and the subsequent price surges forced European and U.S. laboratories to seek alternative import pipelines to satisfy demand. Cambodia stepped in to fill the void. Between 2019 and 2022, the value of Cambodia’s monkey export business reportedly surged from about $34 million to over $250 million. This rapid pivot introduced some severe issues. U.S. and European regulations mandate the use of “captive-bred” macaques. Wild-caught monkeys are highly dangerous for research because they carry unknown diseases (which can skew clinical trial data or cause outbreaks in labs) and lack the controlled genetic history needed for precise testing.

To meet Western demand, smugglers began illegally poaching wild macaques from protected habitats and “laundering” them through breeding facilities, providing forged paperwork to label them as captive-bred.

In late 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a massive indictment against an international primate smuggling ring. This resulted in the arrest and charging of top Cambodian wildlife officials and executives from a major supply company. In the wake of these indictments, major U.S. industry players, most notably Charles River Laboratories, faced federal subpoenas regarding their imported supplies, which paralysed the U.S. supply chain even further. The sheer scale of this poaching had an immediate ecological impact. In 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) officially reclassified the long-tailed macaque from “vulnerable” to “Endangered” on its Red List, citing the biomedical trade as a primary driver.

Securing the Supply: Domestic Reserves and the Quest for Independence

Biomedical sovereignty is important, especially in an increasingly volatile world where WMDs can even be a strain of virus and wars can be fought using bioweapons. While a harsh reality, it is an undeniable one. U.S. lawmakers and scientists are viewing NHPs as critical national assets and not just research animals.

The U.S. is trying to ensure a form of self-reliance in the field, with even private agencies stepping up to meet requirements. Alpha Genesis Inc., America’s largest primate research centre, has ramped up its operations across the US. to secure the supply chains, and announced expansion of its breeding operations to meet the target of America’s “self-reliance”. But money is not enough to speed up the biology of the 165-day gestation period or the period it takes for the macaque to be physically mature. It will take more time for America to build a self-reliant supply system.

Meanwhile, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 removed the mandate for animal testing while concurrently pushing for New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). These methods, as per NIH, are successfully replacing some early-stage testing. However, they still cannot simulate highly complex, whole-body, multi-organ systemic interactions. Macaques remain the gold standard for testing complex therapies, and this translates to a national security issue as long as the market is controlled by one party.