Cyprotex Launches Solution to Predict Preclinical Toxicity
chemTox has been developed by Cyprotex's Scientific Computing Group using quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) modelling, a technique that relates calculable chemical characteristics of a molecule to important properties such as its toxicity. As chemTox requires no experimental data inputs it can be used as a virtual screening tool prior to chemical synthesis. There are significant cost benefits to this approach as chemTox can be applied as an early stage filter for directing chemistry and prioritising subsequent in vitro screening by taking into account the predicted safety of the molecule. Cyprotex not only provide the in silico predictions but can provide a full tiered screening strategy with safety of the molecules substantiated using a panel of in vitro toxicity assays.
By utilising chemTox alongside complementary virtual screening tools such as chemPKTM, which was launched by Cyprotex in July, it is possible to predict both preclinical safety and human exposure in combination. Both systems operate on a similar KNIME workflow management platform which allows further integration with many other cheminformatics, analytics and modelling tools.
Dr Anthony Baxter, Cyprotex's Chief Executive Officer, comments: 'The ethical concerns over animal testing are intensifying and new approaches which reduce or in the future replace animal safety testing are a key focus. Virtual screening tools such as chemTox address this need, and are becoming widely used in industries such as cosmetics and personal care where a complete ban on animal testing has been enforced.'
Комментарии