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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 1, 153–161 (1 February 2002) | doi:10.1038/nrd728

Metabonomics: a platform for studying drug toxicity and gene function

Jeremy K. Nicholson , John Connelly , John C. Lindon & Elaine Holmes

The later that a molecule or molecular class is lost from the drug development pipeline, the higher the financial cost. Minimizing attrition is therefore one of the most important aims of a pharmaceutical discovery programme. Novel technologies that increase the probability of making the right choice early save resources, and promote safety, efficacy and profitability. Metabonomics is a systems approach for studying in vivo metabolic profiles, which promises to provide information on drug toxicity, disease processes and gene function at several stages in the discovery-and-development process.