Charles River Laboratories International and Toxys have agreed to offer access to ToxTracker assays suite in North America.
Image: Charles River to distribute Toxys’ ToxTracker in North America. Photo: Courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
ToxTracker from Toxys allows for rapid carcinogenicity toxicity hazard identification in new and existing drugs, chemicals and other substances.
The product is claimed to have a very high level of sensitivity and specificity and it can be used to quickly screen chemicals for genotoxicity. By combining multiple biomarkers, ToxTracker can provide mechanistic insight into undesired properties of compounds.
The assay is touted to identify several toxic properties of chemicals that are associated with increased cancer risk through both traditional markers, such as DNA damage and alternative Modes-of-Action, including oxidative stress and protein damage.
The Massachusetts-based company stated that its clients can use the ToxTracker assay to help mitigate the risk of regulatory rejection by demonstrating the exact mechanism of genotoxicity.
ToxTracker is claimed to have been validated extensively, using reference compound libraries recommended by the USEPA’s Toxicity Forecaster (ToxCast) and the European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM).
With this validation, ToxTracker has shown that it has 94% sensitivity and 95% specificity for the detection of genotoxic compounds.
Furthermore, ToxTracker is also versatile in identifying unsafe compounds provides applications across the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and consumer product industries.
Charles River Laboratories discovery and safety assessment corporate executive vice president Birgit Girshick said: “We are proud to work with Toxys to expand our portfolio of genetic toxicology assays. By providing our clients with access to the ToxTracker assays, we are improving their ability to deliver safe, effective compounds.”
Toxys CEO Giel Hendriks said: “When looking for a company to provide ToxTracker to the North American market, Charles River was an easy choice. Their deep industry knowledge and experience, coupled with an already robust portfolio of toxicology services, makes them the ideal partner for our innovative assays. We are excited to work together to bring ToxTracker to a wider audience.”
Recently, Toxys stated that it has enhanced the ToxTracker assay to discriminate clastogens from aneugens, and to classify aneugens as tubulin poisons or cell cycle kinase inhibitors. And this extension has been named as ToxTracker Aneugen Clastogen Evaluation (ACE).