In silico ADME-Tox modeling: progress and prospects.

INTRODUCTION: Although significant progress has been made in high-throughput screening of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, and toxicity (ADME-Tox) properties in drug discovery and development, in silico ADME-Tox prediction continues to play an important role in facilitating the appropriate selection of candidate drugs by pharmaceutical companies prior to expensive clinical trials. Areas covered: This review provides an overview of the available in silico models that have been used to predict the ADME-Tox properties of compounds. It also provides a comprehensive overview and summarization of the latest modeling methods and algorithms available for the prediction of physicochemical characteristics, ADME properties, and drug toxicity issues. Expert opinion: The in silico models currently available have greatly contributed to the knowledge of screening approaches in the early stages of drug discovery and the development process. As the definitive goal of in silico molding is to predict the pharmacokinetics and disposition of compounds in vivo by assembling all kinetic processes within one global model, PBPK models can serve this purpose. However, much work remains to be done in this area to generate more data and input parameters to build more reliable and accurate prediction models.