A Milestone for Toxys : Growth capital to develop Toxicological tests
The Zeeuws Investment Fund and InnovationQuarter have invested in the biotech company Toxys, located in Leiden, The Netherlands. Toxys is a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and specialized in a new generation of innovative testing which quickly and reliably can identify the main carcinogenic properties of new substances. The official figurehead for top sector Life Sciences & Health professor Jan Raaijmakers announced the investment during the Axon Innovation Pitch session at Innovation4Health, an event focused on innovations in healthcare. Toxys will be using the investment to further expand their business, to market their current testing technology and to develop new tests.
New publication on how the ToxTracker assay provides mechanistic insight
The extended ToxTracker assay discriminates between induction of DNA Damage, Oxidative stress and Protein misfolding
The ToxTracker assay is a powerful tool for reliable chemical safety screening during the early phases of drug or product development. The paper in Toxicological Sciences describes the different fluorescent reporter cell lines for DNA Damage, Oxidative stress, Protein misfolding and cellular stress that are used in ToxTracker to gain insight into the mechanism of genotoxicity of compounds.
Toxys and Mitologics announce strategic partnership
8 March 2016 - Today Toxys and Mitologics announce a strategic partnership to jointly offer their unique in vitro toxicity assays.
The ever-increasing number of chemical compounds as well as nanomaterials that are developed by industry poses a potential threat for human health. These compounds and materials may react with various biomolecules thereby disrupting organelle function and cellular homeostasis. Assays that identify toxic compounds quickly and accurately and prevent incorrect labelling as toxic are needed.
The unique combination of the ToxTracker assay and the MiToxView platform provides a valuable approach for reliable identification of the hazardous properties of new compounds and nanomaterials and gain insight into their mechanisms of action. Induction of DNA damage, oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage are strongly associated with drug-induced liver injury (DILI), cardiac toxicity and carcinogenicity. A combination of the ToxTracker genotoxicity assay and MiToxView mitochondrial toxicity platform provides a relevant context to screen and understand potential toxic properties of compounds already during the early phases of drug and product development.
“The collaboration with Mitologics provides a unique opportunity to combine two state-of-the art toxicology assays so that customers not only know reliably whether their compounds are toxic but also get insight into the MOA of their compounds” said Giel Hendriks, CEO of Toxys. “The understanding of potential toxicity mechanism is crucial to select the safest compounds and it is in this way that Mitologics and Toxys propose to combine their technologies” said Annie Borgne-Sanchez, Mitologics’ CEO.
About Toxys Toxys offers the ToxTracker, a highly sensitive and specific stem cell-based reporter assay that discriminates between induction of DNA damage, oxidative stress, protein damage and general cytotoxicity. www.toxys.com
About Mitologics The MiToxView platform on mouse liver mitochondria allows identification of compounds inducing direct mitochondrial damages by assessing global membrane permeabilisation (swelling), transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) loss, cytochrome c release and oxygen consumption through respiratory chain complex I and complex II. http://www.mitologics.com
ToxTracker is a state-of-the-art stem cell-based reporter assay that provides mechanistic insights in the primary reactive properties of novel compounds with a superior sensitivity and specificity compared to the conventional in vitro (geno)toxicity tests available on the market.
