Pharmacokinetic Profiling in Drug Research

Informatics and robotics are the workhorses of a technological revolution in drug research. On them are based combinatorial chemistry which yields compounds by the many thousands, and high-throughput bioassays which screen them for activity. The results are avalanches of 'hits' which invade the databases like swarms of locusts. But far from being a plague, these innumerable compounds become a blessing if properly screened for 'drugability', i.e., for 'drug-like' properties such as good pharmacokinetic (PK) behavior. Pharmacokinetic profiling of bioactive compounds has thus become a sine qua non condition for cherry-picking the most promising hits. Just as important, but less visible, are the structure-property and structure-ADME relationships, which emerge from PK profiling and provide useful feedback when designing new synthetic series. The profiling of ADME properties (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) is the focus of this book. Many major advances have been made during the last years in biological, physicochemical, or computational strategies. International authorities and practicing experts from academia and industry offer state-of-the-art presentations of concepts, methods, and technologies now in use or development in drug research. In addition to its 28 chapters, the book includes a CD-ROM containing the invited lectures, oral communications, and posters (in full version) Presented at the Third LogP Symposium, 'Physicochemical and Biological Profiling in Drug Research', held at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) of Zurich in March 2004.