New Chip to Test Compounds for Toxcicity Early on

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/09/white-house-boosts-transla
tional.html?ref=hp

The NIH and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will each invest
as much as $70 million over five years on a chip to test compounds for
toxicity before they are administered to humans. The agencies will also
coordinate with the FDA, which could utilize the chip to accelerate the
drug-approval process. "If things are going to fail, you want them to fail
early," said NIH Director Francis Collins. "Now you'll be able to find out
much quicker if something isn't going to work." Meanwhile, the NIH is
searching for someone to lead its proposed National Center for Advancing
Translational Sciences.