Toxys Awarded £1M for Phase 2 of CrossDART CRACK IT Challenge

Advancing Multi-Species In Vitro Assays

During phase 2, Toxys will continue to develop and refine multi-species (human, rat, and rabbit) in vitro assays to predict in vivo teratogenicity. The team will qualify these assays using positive and negative reference compounds to assess their predictive accuracy across species. Additionally, data from these assays will be integrated into computational models to generate species-specific predictions for compound exposure concentrations.

The Importance of This Research
For drugs intended for women of childbearing potential, teratogenicity testing is traditionally conducted in pregnant rats and rabbits. This project aims to:
• Reduce reliance on animal-based embryo-fetal development studies
• Provide species-specific insights into developmental toxicity
• Improve human relevance in drug safety assessment

“At Toxys, we are committed to developing new approach methodologies that contribute to safer medicines and products. This project addresses a key gap in developmental and reproductive toxicology, making the outcomes highly valuable.” — Dr. Amer Jamalpoor, CSO, Toxys

About ReproTrackerReproTracker is a human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based assay that detects developmental toxicity responses of chemicals. By capturing key cellular events in stem cell differentiation and early embryonic development, ReproTracker provides a quantitative assessment of teratogenic potential.

About CRACK IT Challenge
CRACK IT is a competition designed to foster collaboration between industry, academia, and SMEs to address scientific challenges while promoting the 3Rs principles (Replace, Reduce, Refine animal testing). The CrossDART challenge is supported by contributions from major pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Healthcare KGaA, MMV Medicines for Malaria Venture, Novartis, and Roche.

For more information, contact info@toxys.com.