The Current Status of Metabolomics in Drug Discovery and Development

Metabolomics technology has been part of pharmaceutical discovery and development for over a decade and a half. Like many new technologies embraced by the industry, metabolomics gained early and wide acceptance as a novel tool for the rapid elucidation of mechanisms and biomarkers in preclinical discovery only to fall victim to overhype and overpromise. While many dedicated metabolomic groups have disappeared from industry, the academic world has embraced the technology and important new advances have been made such that the technology is beginning to reemerge in the industrial setting. Advances in instrumentation and data analyses have led the way in this resurgence followed by important new clinical applications. The technology has come a long way in the last decade, and we can anticipate an even more exciting ride in the next. Drug Dev Res 73 : 535-546, 2012. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.