• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.412-419
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• 2013

Drug discovery and development processes are time consuming and costly endeavors. It has been reported that on average it takes 10 to 15 years and costs more than $ 1billion to bring a molecule from discovery to market. Compounds fail for various reasons but one of the significant reasons that accounts for failures in clinical trials is poor prediction/understanding of pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism in human. In an effort to improve the number of compounds that exhibit optimal absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination (ADME), and pharmacokinetic properties in human, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetic scientists have been continually developing new technologies and compound screening strategies. Over the last few years, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and its applications to preclinical/clinical pharmacokinetics and ADME studies have significantly increased, particularly for new chemical/biological entities that are difficult to support with conventional radiolabel studies. In this review, the application of AMS for micro-dosing, micro-tracer absolute bioavailability, mass balance and metabolite profiling studies will be discussed.