Future Impact of Cytotoxicity Testing

As occurred with the introduction of in vitro testing for adverse pharmacokinetic properties, implementation of in vitro cytotoxicity testing in drug discovery is likely to reduce later attrition in drug development by an order of magnitude. An indispensable tool will be HCA and a cytotoxicity model similar to that described above. Attendance at the numerous annual industry conferences on HCA indicates that 

Screening First-tier screen for potential for human target organ toxicity 

Chromosomal toxicity Replacement of manual in vitro miconudei test 

Mechanisms of toxicity Characterize and develop mechanistic understanding of a toxicity 

Biomarkers Translational safety biomarkers (e.g., mitochondrial toxicity can be detected in vitro and in vivo), phospholipidosis [37] 

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