NEEDHAM, Massachusetts (USA) and GRENOBLE (FRA) – April 27, 2011 – The Drug Safety Executive Council (DSEC), an industry membership run by Cambridge Healthtech Associates (CHA), together with CYTOO, a provider of innovative products for the life science research and drug discovery markets with an emphasis in cell based assays, high content analysis and cell screening, today announced a new program as part of DSEC’s Technology Evaluation Consortium.

The project will assess the scientific and economic utility of the ReferenceCell™, a technology that provides quantification of cell-based assays and high content screening (HCS) through adhesive micropatterns which control cell morphology down to its internal architecture, offering defined microenvironment conditions for each cell. Seven leading biopharmaceutical companies, whose names are undisclosed, will participate in the collaborative evaluation of the ReferenceCell™.

“The consortium is looking forward to evaluating the ReferenceCell™ platform as the technology resolves the key issue of creating reproducible results in High Content Screening,“ said Eric Glazer, Managing Director, DSEC.

“This program is a unique opportunity for us to put the Reference Cell™ technology through its paces to demonstrate higher sensitivity and reproducibility in a compound toxicity screen, ultimately leading to a greater range of applications in cell based assays, drug discovery and toxicology,” said Alexandra Fuchs, COO, CYTOO. 

About Cambridge Healthtech Associates and the Drug Safety Executive Council
CHA is the leading organizer of consortia in life sciences. CHA reduces the costs of R&D by bringing companies together to work cooperatively. The Technology Evaluation Consortium determines the scientific utility of predictive safety technologies by leveraging the expertise of biopharmaceutical companies. CHA also manages DSEC, an online, peer membership of over 2,000 drug safety leaders. Learn more at www.chacorporate.com and www.drugsafetycouncil.org. CHA is wholly owned subsidiary of Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI).