An expert review of potentially reactive features

In several recent posts1,2 we highlighted the usefulness of an expert review of potentially reactive features. This is particularly important when an out-of-domain result is returned or when an area of the test chemical is not being considered by the computational model. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published a paper showing that …

Expanding the use of in silico toxicology

The application of in silico toxicology is constantly increasing as we better understand how such methods can support different applications (such as the assessment of genotoxic impurity, extractables and leachables, chemicals requiring classification and labelling, and so on). Position papers are critical to support this expansion. We have reported in some recent blog posts progress …

New book on Mutagenic Impurities

We have been really happy to contribute to a number of chapters in an important new book edited by Dr. Andrew Teasdale: “Mutagenic Impurities: Strategies for Identification and Control”1 This will be an essential read for students and professionals in the field of genotoxic impurities (GTIs) assessment covering topics including a history of the regulatory …

Instem’s Computational Toxicology and Genetic Toxicology Groups at GTA 2021

We are pleased to be attending this year’s virtual GTA meeting1 and will be presenting on several topics throughout the course of the event. On Thursday May 6th, Dr. Kevin Cross will be presenting “Predicting N-Nitrosamine Activity from Structure-Activity Relationships” as part of a Symposium on “The 3Rs and in Silico Modeling”. This presentation addresses …

N-nitrosamine SAR Working group

Leadscope, Inc. (an Instem company), in collaboration with Lhasa Limited are leading a working group of pharmaceutical toxicologists and consultants investigating the carcinogenic potency and structure-activity relationships of N-nitrosamines. This is in response to the recent discovery of N-nitrosamines in marketed pharmaceuticals and the regulatory changes that have resulted. The working group is run by …

Are (Q)SAR models fit-for-purpose for classification and labelling?

We were recently involved in a cross-industry project to determine whether (Q)SAR models were fit-for-purpose for classification and labelling. To test this hypothesis, a series of companies across different industrial sectors each compiled a data set of chemicals with experimental acute rat oral data. These chemicals were run against the first version of the Leadscope …

Establishing potency categories for Nitrosamine impurities

Nitrosamine impurities currently belong to a “cohort of concern” because of their potential to be potent mutagenic carcinogens, as described in the ICH M7 guideline1. They are also coming under increasing regulatory scrutiny with the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency recently issuing new guidelines2,3 for examination of this class. These guidelines …

Can the burden on industry and regulators be reduced?

About 6 years ago, the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) published the M7 guideline “Assessment and Control of DNA reactive (mutagenic) Impurities in Pharmaceuticals to limit Potential Carcinogenic Risk”.[1] This was a landmark moment for computational toxicology, as it was the first time such methods were recognized by the ICH as a regulatory test. An …