I'll stick my oar in. I also work for a pharmaceutical company. While it would be ideal to be able to use 100% human cell lines (and would have a better success rate making meds, BTW!) we ain't there yet folks.

The people that work with the animals have a very respectful attitude, from what I've seen. Efforts are made to minimize cruelty. In fact when I took GLP training the trainer asked, "What do you think we do if an animal is obviously in pain or distress?" I answered, correctly, that they put it to sleep.

MS is a devastating disease for humans, and it is a worthy project to be working on.

Sorry this was so long winded! Good luck.