Research animal retirement and lifetime care, now available through Alpha Genesis. Professionally managed lifetime care for retired research primates, with expert social reintroduction into stable outdoor groups led by veterinary staff deeply experienced in laboratory-animal medicine.
Learn moreResearch Animal Retirement & Lifetime Care
Alpha Genesis provides lifelong, professionally managed care for NHPs that have completed their role in biomedical research, housed outdoors in compatible social groups, under veterinary, behavioral, and husbandry oversight. The program accommodates retirements of every size, from a single animal to populations of several thousand, and accepts these animals into lifetime care while upholding rigorous standards of animal welfare.
For many years, NHPs that had completed their role in biomedical research had limited options for responsible, long-term placement. Lifelong primate care requires substantial land, housing infrastructure, veterinary depth, and behavioral-management expertise that few organizations maintain at scale.
As the largest NHP care and research organization in the United States, Alpha Genesis operates extensive outdoor social-housing infrastructure and one of the most experienced primate care teams in the field. Its founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Greg Westergaard, completed doctoral research on the formation and management of primate social groups, the scientific foundation on which this program is built.
In response to growing demand from sponsors seeking responsible retirement options, Alpha Genesis established a structured retirement and lifetime-care pathway. Within six months, more than 1,000 NHPs had been transferred from biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical sponsors, and research organizations, with approximately 2,000 additional animals anticipated by year-end, reflecting a significant unmet need across the research community.
NHPs transitioned into lifetime care during the program's first six months
Additional animals anticipated to enter the program by year-end
Transition-related injuries or mortalities recorded during social introduction
Retired animals are housed outdoors in compatible social groups where they can engage in species-typical behaviors, including locomotion, foraging, and social grooming, supported by structured behavioral management and continuous professional oversight.
Animals are housed outdoors in spacious enclosures that support locomotion, foraging, and species-typical activity throughout the day.
Animals are integrated into stable, compatible social groups, consistent with the well-established benefits of social housing for NHPs.
A structured behavioral-management program, environmental enrichment, positive reinforcement training, and routine behavioral monitoring, supports psychological well-being.
Preventive medicine, clinical monitoring, and individualized veterinary care are provided for the remainder of each animal's life.
“Retirement should be defined by outcomes: animals that are safe, healthy, socially housed, professionally monitored, and able to engage in species-typical behavior over the long term. That is the standard our team works to every day.”
The retirement process is straightforward for the originating organization and rigorous in execution. It begins with a single consultation.
An initial discussion to understand the population, the study-closeout timeline, and transfer requirements.
The retiring organization provides a list of animals. Alpha Genesis reviews veterinary records, behavioral history, age, sex, prior housing, prior social exposure, and clinical status for each individual.
Veterinary and behavioral staff assess social compatibility and develop a phased introduction plan tailored to each animal's history.
Alpha Genesis coordinates transport, intake, and documentation, and assumes long-term responsibility for the animals' care.
Animals are introduced gradually into established outdoor social groups under continuous observation by experienced primate behavioral and care staff.
Ongoing veterinary care, behavioral management, enrichment, and transparent documentation are maintained for the remainder of each animal's life.
Earlier approaches to research animal retirement have often relied on complex financing arrangements, endowments, per-animal funding formulas, multi-party cost-sharing, and long-term payment schedules that are difficult to administer and slow to execute.
Alpha Genesis takes a deliberately simpler approach. In most cases, the retiring organization sends us the animals, and we care for them at no ongoing cost to the sponsor. By assuming long-term responsibility for the animals, the program removes the recurring carrying cost of maintaining animals that are no longer assigned to active studies.
Specific arrangements are confirmed for each transfer, following veterinary and behavioral review of the population. The result is a straightforward, sustainable model: animals receive professionally managed lifetime care, and sponsors can redirect resources toward active research.
Alpha Genesis brings together what no other organization offers at this level: the scale to welcome anything from a single animal to several thousand, the veterinary and behavioral expertise to do it safely, and the flexibility to design retirement around each population, all in professionally managed outdoor social groups, for life.
As the largest NHP care organization in the United States, Alpha Genesis maintains outdoor social-housing capacity to accommodate retirements of any size, from a single animal to several thousand at a time, at a level few programs can provide.
Decades of experience in social-group formation, compatibility assessment, and phased introductions, grounded in primate behavioral science.
Board-certified laboratory-animal veterinarians, preventive medicine, and individualized clinical care for animals with diverse research and housing histories.
Structured enrichment, positive reinforcement training, and behavioral monitoring consistent with professional standards for NHP care.
USDA-licensed operations, clear documentation, responsible transfer planning, and long-term accountability for every animal received.
More than 1,000 animals successfully integrated into outdoor social groups with no transition-related injuries or mortalities recorded.
From a single social group to a full colony, these real-world case studies show how Alpha Genesis transitions animals into professionally managed lifetime care.
A biotech sponsor closed a multi-year immunology program and retired four socially bonded rhesus macaques, kept together, through a fast, fully coordinated transition.
Read case studyAfter a strategic portfolio pivot left 425 healthy cynomolgus macaques without a planned use, Alpha Genesis ran a coordinated full-colony retirement, with a complete strategy developed in one week.
Read case studyA 24-animal capuchin colony behind 20+ years of neuroscience research entered retirement with social groups preserved and individualized care continued.
Read case studyTell us about the animals you are planning to retire and your study-closeout timeline. Our veterinary and behavioral team will review the population and respond with a responsible, professionally managed path forward.
