Analysis of Caliper's Phase I EPA ToxCast(TM) Data Published in Leading Scientific Journal
o Initial ToxCast data from Caliper's in vitro assays reveal molecular targets with potential role in toxicity
o $3.1 million of new EPA task orders support further expansion of Caliper's role in the ToxCast program
HOPKINTON, Mass., February 24, 2011 - Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALP), today
announced that the results of its initial screening efforts under the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) ToxCast program have been published in the scientific journal Toxicology. Key
findings reported include (1) a high level of quality and reproducibility in the dataset allowing for
robust statistical analyses, and (2) the role that specific targets in biological pathways could play in
toxicity events. These findings underscore the success of the Phase I ToxCast effort and support
continued expansion of the program to build predictive models for identifying chemicals with high
risk for human toxicity or environmental hazard. Caliper has recently been awarded three new task
orders with an aggregate value of $3.1 million to fund additional activities under the EPA ToxCast
program.
The initial goal of the ToxCast program is to create a database of in vitro (laboratory) assay data on a
broad set of compounds for which in vivo (animal) safety data already exists. The Toxicology article
covers the first phase of ToxCast data produced by Caliper, which involved more than 93,000
chemical-assay pairs. Caliper has contributed 292 assays, more than half of all of the assays, to the
EPA ToxCast program. The long term goal of this program is to identify in vitro assays that can
predict toxicity in humans and animals and then employ those predictive tests to supplement or replace
existing animal-based tests, thus reducing the cost and improving the speed of regulatory approval of
new environmental chemicals.
The article published in Toxicology (Volume 282, Nos. 1-2, pp. 1-15) is entitled "Activity profiles of
309 ToxCast chemicals evaluated across 292 biochemical targets". The authors include senior
scientific staff from EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicology, as well as Arthur
Weissman, Ph.D., who serves as Caliper's Principal Investigator under its contract with the EPA for
the ToxCast program.
"We are pleased with the confirmation of the high quality of our ToxCast data reported in this article,
as well as the finding that both previously known and novel targets of signaling pathways potentially
involved in toxicity mechanisms were identified. Caliper's LabChip® platform in particular was
instrumental in demonstrating some types of both kinase inhibition and kinase activation as possible
novel toxicity mechanisms," said David Manyak, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Caliper. "The
new funding commitments from EPA will allow us to generate dose response information for the
Phase II screening of 700 additional chemicals now underway, as well support an additional round of
compound screening to create more detailed models around specific potential toxicity targets."
"These results underscore Caliper's strategy to become a leader in personalized medicine tools and
CRO services," commented Kevin Hrusovsky, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we evolve
into companion diagnostics and patient stratification CRO services, we believe our unique ToxCast
capability will help identify toxicity biomarkers that have the ability to rescue drugs that had failed
due to toxicity but have the ability to be efficacious and safe for a patient population subset. These data will help us to garner additional interest from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as we
build these enabling CRO services."
Caliper will be hosting a webinar at 1:00 pm EST today (Thursday, February 24), at which Dr.
Weissman will present an overview of predictive toxicology and safety pharmacology research
programs and offerings of Caliper's Discovery Alliances and Services (CDAS) business unit. Please
register online at www.caliperLS.com/CDAS.
About Caliper Life Sciences
Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies enabling researchers in the
life sciences industry to develop life-saving and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more
quickly and efficiently. Caliper is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge the gap between
in vitro assays and in vivo results that translate into potential cures for a range of diseases. Caliper's
portfolio of offerings includes state-of-the-art microfluidics, lab automation & liquid handling,
molecular imaging technologies, and discovery & development outsourcing solutions. For more
information please visit www.caliperLS.com.
Media Contact:
Stacey Holifield / Benjamin Navon
Schwartz Communications
781.684.0770
caliper@schwartzcomm.com
