What is an ADME-Tox assay?

ADME is an acronym for absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. The ‘Tox’ portion of the name is short for toxicity. ADME-Tox assays are used extensively in pharmacology during the drug discovery and testing process prior to progressing to in-vivo testing. The assays are designed to study how extensively a drug enters and leaves the body, and the speed at which it does so. These assays are ideally done as early as possible in the development pipeline of a potential drug, as they are inexpensive as compared to animal testing of a prospective compound. ADME-Tox assays can be done in small-scale, or converted to automation.