Metabolomics in pharmaceutical research and development.

Metabolomics has significant potential in pharmaceutical and clinical research, including the identification of new targets, the elucidation of the mechanism of action of new drugs, the characterization of safety and efficacy profiles, as well as the discovery of biomarkers for early disease diagnosis, prognosis, patient stratification, and treatment response monitorization. Metabolomics involves the analysis of small molecules and can lead to an improved understanding of drug candidate actions and to a better selection of targets. Although the application of metabolomics in the pharmaceutical industry is still at its infancy, this experimental approach has the possibility to transform our knowledge of drug action through the examination of drug-induced metabolic pathways associated to both drug efficacy and adverse drug reactions.