Stem cell-based toxicology testing partnership

CIT – Safety and Health Research Laboratories and Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc announced today that CIT and Stemina have entered into a strategic partnership. Under the arrangement, CIT will distribute Stemina’s devTOX assay in Europe and will work with Stemina to validate the test for use under the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) initiative. As early as 2012, and more particularly for volumes of one ton or more per year, REACH will require manufacturers and importers to register and test all chemicals and compositions containing chemicals.

DevTOX uses human Embryonic Stem (hES) cells to test pharmaceuticals, chemicals and formulations such as cosmetics for their potential to cause birth defects if a woman is exposed during pregnancy. DevTOX is able to model human developmental toxicity with about 90 per cent accuracy in blinded studies of chemicals whose effect on the developing human embryo are known. This is a significant improvement from rodents, which are only about 60 per cent predictive of the effect of a compound on human development.