“All pigs are equal” Does the background data from juvenile Göttingen minipigs support this?

•The Göttingen minipig is a suitable model for juvenile toxicity studies, even from PND 1 onwards.•Age-related changes were observed for several cardiac and clinical pathology parameters and in the haematopoietic tissues.•The age-related differences in several parameters underline the importance of having adequate background data. The data described in this article can be used as guidance and to support the study control data but cannot completely replace them.

For pediatric indications requiring juvenile toxicity testing, the rat is the preferred species. However, for some drugs it might not be an appropriate model or regulatory agencies may also request a non-rodent species. Due to the relatively recent use of Göttingen minipigs, little background data are available. This shortage of historical data can raise concerns with respect to interpretation, thus potentially discouraging investigators. This article presents background data from 82 piglets collected at different ages. The data described show the normal variations and changes which are important in the interpretations of these studies. Age-related changes were observed for several cardiac and clinical pathology parameters and in the haematopoietic tissues. Therefore, all pigs were not considered equal. It can be concluded that these data can be used as guidance, to support the concurrent study control data but cannot completely replace them.