In vitro Toxicity Testing for Drug Discovery

Pharmaron provides one of the largest portfolios of in vitro toxicity testing assays in the CRO industry. Our drug discovery toxicology assays support every stage of the discovery-to-IND workflow: identifying unsafe compounds during hit triage, supporting data-driven lead optimization, providing GLP data in the IND-enabling phase, and investigating the causes of toxicities.

**Comprehensive in vitro Toxicity Testing Platform**

Pharmaron delivers industry-leading in vitro toxicity screening services spanning in silico predictions, high-throughput cellular screening, and advanced 3D systems such as spheroids, organoids, and organ-on-a-chip or microfluidic models. This range of in vitro toxicity services enables the investigation of possible liabilities at different levels of complexity, improves data interpretation, and helps distinguish true toxicities from model-specific artifacts.

Capabilities

Regulatory in vitro Toxicology

Organ-Specific Toxicity

in vitro Biology

Safety Assessment

Connect with a Scientific Expert

**Expert Data Interpretation of in vitro Toxicity Screening**

Our teams have supported drug discovery programs for over 20 years. Our perspective integrates potency, pharmacology, and safety considerations, and we understand where structural refinement is most effective.

For IND‑enabling needs, GLP‑compliant in vitro toxicology assays are available through our Safety Assessment group.

electrophysiology screening for off-target drug screening

Off-Target and Selectivity Screening

Off‑target and selectivity screening supports smarter decision‑making in drug discovery by identifying unwanted interactions early and helping prioritize the most promising compounds for lead optimization.

In vitro safety panel (45, 77, or 95 target panels)
Custom selectivity panels for hit triage
Proteomics-based target deconvolution
Ion channel screening, including hERG
CYP induction and inhibition

scientist uses MSD instrument to detect immunotoxic effects of drugs in vitro

Cell-Intrinsic Toxic Effects

Pharmaron provides a battery of drug discovery toxicology assays designed to understand how a compound causes cellular toxicities, which is crucial to refine SAR.

Cell viability and membrane integrity
Cell death pathways
Genotoxicity (also available GLP compliant)
Cellular stress
Reactive metabolite formation
Mitochondrial injury or dysfunction

detection of risky metabolites is done via hrms and can uncover ADME-related toxicities

Mechanistic Toxicity

We help identify toxicity risks that arise from compound‑driven mechanisms, including bioactivation, altered clearance, and drug–drug interaction (DDI) pathways that lead to downstream tissue injury.

Metabolite‑driven hazards: reactive metabolites, human‑unique metabolites, light‑activated phototoxic species
Clearance & exposure risks: enzyme induction/inhibition, transporter interactions, metabolomics‑defined metabolic disruptions revealing pathway imbalances such as lipid remodeling, energy stress, or bile-acid perturbations
Downstream injury phenotypes: cholestasis, steatosis, phospholipidosis, and liver toxicity/drug-induced liver injury (DILI)

Learn more about our ADME-related in vitro toxicity testing on our Discovery ADMET webpage.

in vitro toxicity screening is performed with high throughput instruments such as the MSD, here used for immune profiling

Immunotoxicity and Hematotoxicity

Understanding unintended immune activation and suppression as well as blood lineage-dependent toxicities early in drug discovery is crucial to avoid mechanisms that can lead to serious clinical outcomes.

Cytokine release
Mast-cell degranulation
Immunogenicity
Fc-mediated toxicities (ADCC, ADCP, CDC)
Blood lineage-specific toxicities identifying how a compound disrupts hematopoietic differentiation and thus immune function
Stem cell and bone marrow toxicities

Learn more under organ-specific in vitro toxicology models.

organ models can be investigated via high content imaging to detect subtle changes pointing to unwanted drug effects

Organ-Specific Toxicology Models

As a full-service toxicology CRO, we provide a broad selection of organ-specific in vitro toxicity testing models with a variety of physiological models such as 3D spheroids, organoids, and organ-on-a-chip models.

Liver toxicology
Cardiovascular toxicology
Immunotoxicology
Hematotoxicology
Neurotoxicology
Nephrotoxicology
Pulmonary toxicology
Skin toxicology
Gastrointestinal toxicology

Learn more about our organ-specific in vitro toxicology models.

in silico toxicity expert on computer Alt text: in silico toxicology is used for hERG and other cardiotoxic effects

In silico Toxicology Services

Our in silico toxicology platform enables early removal of unsafe chemotypes and supports data‑driven optimization throughout Hit ID and Hit‑to‑Lead, helping advance safer compounds with fewer design cycles.

DEREK and SARAH in silico predictions and reports for late-stage compound and intermediate support as well as early compound optimization
CYP, hERG and transporter interaction prediction for early compound optimization
Bespoke QSAR, ML, AI, SBDD models for in silico off-target predictions
Oligonucleotide (siRNA/ASO) off-target and immunogenicity prediction

View our CADD and Bioinformatics capabilities to learn more.