NAMSA Subsidiary Wins EPA Contract

A subsidiary of NAMSA has been awarded a sizable contract to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ToxCast program.

CeeTox Inc. will provide toxicity testing of chemicals using “high-throughput cell culture systems” combined with an array of biochemical endpoints designed to aid the EPA in prioritizing and testing thousands of chemicals found in consumer products or used in the environment.

The contract has a maximum value of up to $129.6 million over five years.

CeeTox specializes in the development of cutting-edge in vitro diagnostic assays and the deployment of validated in vitro models, each designed to identify and accurately predict in vivo toxicity.

The in vitro methods developed at CeeTox are based on known biochemical mechanisms and processes combined in a manner that enables the data to not only identify whether a chemical is toxic or non-toxic, but in many instances can also place it into a toxicity potency category. Methods using medical device extracts are now under development with a limited number of clients. This technology is expected to be commercially available to the medical device community in four to six months.

“This is truly a milestone accomplishment for CeeTox and here at NAMSA, we are happy to be able to offer these innovative in vitro testing methods to our medial device clients seeking alternative ways to evaluate the effects of sensitization and irritation on a cellular level,” said Dr. Joel Gorski, director of Research and Development for NAMSA.

Northwood, Ohio-based NAMSA is a global contract research organization providing services to prove efficacy and preclinical and clinical safety of medical devices and combination products. CeeTox, acquired by NAMSA in 2005, offers individual assays and assay panels specific to the needs of the personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, chemical and medical device industries.