Toxicogenomics in drug discovery and development -- making an impact

Area of Science:

• Pharmacogenomics
• Toxicology
• Genomics

Background:

• Toxicogenomics, a pharmacogenomics branch, initially promised advancements in predicting drug safety.
• Emerging technologies like gene expression microarrays fueled early excitement in toxicogenomics.
• However, current toxicogenomics approaches have shown limited impact in preclinical toxicology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce in vitro toxicogenomics.
• To highlight the need for re-focusing toxicogenomics applications.
• To discuss the integration of tissue and genomic modeling for high-throughput approaches.

Main Methods:

• Review of toxicogenomics applications in preclinical toxicology.
• Discussion of in vitro toxicogenomics strategies.
• Perspective from a specialist toxicogenomics company (SimuGen).

Main Results:

• Evidence for the impact of current toxicogenomics in preclinical toxicology is scant.
• A need exists to shift focus toward high-throughput methods.
• Integration of tissue and genomic modeling is proposed.

Conclusions:

• In vitro toxicogenomics requires a re-evaluation of its application.
• High-throughput approaches combining tissue and genomic modeling are crucial for advancing toxicogenomics.
• Future directions should emphasize integrated modeling for robust drug safety prediction.