Cellumen, Mitsubishi Tanabe Enter Tox Pact

Cellumen, Inc., a discovery toxicology company, entered an agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (MTPC), to develop panels of biomarkers that identify toxicity early in the drug development process.
   
“We’re pleased to announce this collaboration with MTPC,” says D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D., chief executive of Cellumen. “By working together to develop biomarker panels, we hope to identify toxic liabilities much earlier in the drug development process than currently exists in the marketplace. Our ultimate goal is to enable MTPC to prioritize its lead drug series.”
   
Cellumen’s CellCiphr CSB Toxicity Profiling Services can identify toxic compounds in late primary screening through early preclinical phases, before entering expensive pre-clinical testing. By integrating optimal cells, panels of functional biomarkers and classifier software, CellCiphr is able to create a Safety Risk Index for compounds, and help researchers predict potential rodent or human toxicity earlier in the process.