Embryo-fetal development (EFD) toxicity evaluation is the second segment of developmental and reproductive toxicology evaluation. With many years of experience in rare disease therapy research and a proven track record of quality, innovation, and customer support, our company provides comprehensive services for embryo-fetal development toxicity evaluation to leading and emerging biopharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions.

Overview of Embryo-fetal Development Toxicity Evaluation

Embryo-fetal development toxicity evaluation is also known as embryotoxicity, teratology, developmental toxicity with prenatal evaluation, or segment II study. The study aimed to detect the adverse effects of drug toxicity on pregnant females and on embryonic and fetal development.

Methods of Embryo-fetal Development Toxicity Evaluation

Embryonic-fetal development evaluation is generally performed in rats and rabbits, and experiments are performed by various routes of administration, such as dietary, dermal, oral gavage, intravenous injection, subcutaneous, etc. Usually, the rat is administered between gestational days 6 and 15, and the rabbit is administered between gestational days 6 and 18. Female experimental animals were euthanized approximately before parturition; normally, rats were euthanized approximately 20/21 days of gestation, and rabbits were euthanized approximately 28/29 days of gestation.

Fig.1 Study design for embryo-fetal developmental toxicity in rats and rabbits. (Li, Ronghua, et al., 2018)