Cardiac adverse events are the leading cause of discontinuation of clinical trials and account for almost 25% of all drug withdrawals from the market in the US. Cardiotoxicity encompasses a number of conditions that cause damage to the heart muscle and include cardiac dysfunction, heart failure, myocardial ischemia, valvular abnormalities, pericardial disease, hypertension, and arrhythmias. Today, cardiac toxicity has become a major concern in the development of new cancer treatments given that a number of targeted therapies and next-generation cell- and antibody-based immunotherapies have been shown to affect the cardiovascular system.

ERBC is a world leader in the field of cardiac toxicology. In addition to classical methods to measure cardiac functions, ERBC uses telemetry to perform measurements in conscious, freely moving animals over long periods of time spanning from several hours up to several days. Being one of the first European laboratories to adopt this technique, ERBC has accumulated extensive experience in telemetric studies over a 20 year-period.