Rather than taking a “developer knows best” approach to MetaTox, GeneGo has bought together a panel of end-user scientists to advise and prioritize product development. A steering committee of representatives from partner organizations meet face-to-face once a year, and via web conference, quarterly, to discuss the issues being faced in drug safety today, the molecular data types being generated as part of the safety assessment process, and the tools and supporting information content necessary to make best use of these data. GeneGo’s MetaTox program, led by Richard Brennan, Ph.D. DABT, takes the partners’ recommendations and priorities, and translates them into usable tools. Current MetaTox Partnership members include representatives from the pharmaceutical industry and, critically, from the FDA.

Key advantages of MetaTox Partnership

• Comprehensive suite of GeneGo software included in membership fee
• 6-month exclusivity and a permanent license to all MetaTox software developed by the partnership program
• Unlimited access to MetaTox during the project lifecycle
• Direct input into the development of additional content and tools
• Tissue coverage, toxicity maps and pre-built networks specifically tailored to your program needs
• Automated toxicity data analysis workflows
• A “finger on the pulse” of FDA’s current thinking on the use, interpretation and submission of systems toxicology data and safety biomarkers for drug registration

Additional MetaTox features under development through partner involvement

• Modeling of toxicity endpoints to provide direct prediction of outcomes from chemical structure, or from ‘omics data with direct association to mechanisms of toxicity
• Comprehensive coverage of target organs of toxicity
• Additional workflows to automate complex queries such as:
  • Comprehensive evaluation of a drug target from a safety perspective
  • Identifying potential associations between observed adverse effects and the drug target
  • Identification of transcription factors driving observed experimental changes
  • Analysis of compound effects on drug metabolizing enzymes

The MetaTox Partnership program is in the 2nd year of a 3-year program. Membership remains open to up to 3 more partners. For more information on joining the MetaTox Partnership program, contact Julie Bryant at 1-858-756-7996 or Julie@genego.com.