Toxys and Charles River Laboratories have announced an expanded collaboration to broaden access to ToxTracker and ReproTracker, two New Approach Methodologies for genotoxicity and developmental toxicity assessment. Under a licensing agreement, Charles River will offer ToxTracker from its Den Bosch facility; under a subcontracting agreement, it will offer ReproTracker, with testing performed at Toxys.
The partnership combines Toxys' mechanistic assay platforms with Charles River's global safety assessment capabilities to support predictive, human-relevant decision-making across pharmaceutical, chemical, agrochemical and consumer product development.
The collaboration follows the publication of OECD Test Guideline 446A for ToxTracker on July 2, 2026. The guideline describes ToxTracker as a standardized reporter gene assay for identifying genotoxic hazards and providing mechanistic information on genotoxic and non-genotoxic modes of action. Validation studies have shown these mechanistic insights can help predict in vivo genotoxicity outcomes and support interpretation of equivocal or positive results from established in vitro assays.
ReproTracker is a human induced pluripotent stem cell-based biomarker assay that models aspects of early embryonic development to identify potential developmental toxicity hazards before, or in support of, safety assessment studies.
Toxys CEO Giel Hendriks said combining Charles River's global reach with Toxys' mechanistic in vitro platforms will make these approaches more accessible for toxicology and regulatory decision-making. Allison Lintern, Senior Manager, Business Coordination DART at Charles River, said the collaboration gives clients earlier insight into potential genetic and developmental toxicity findings and supports more informed decisions before conducting in vivo studies.
The companies said the collaboration aims to improve toxicity identification, strengthen scientific decision-making and contribute to the continued reduction of animal testing where scientifically appropriate.