Efficient Drug Development

To find the most effective interventions for complex metabolic diseases, we must first understand the dynamics of disease onset and progression. Only then can key targets and optimal therapeutic windows for more effective treatment be defined. We spoke with Anita van den Hoek, Research Scientist for TNO Metabolic Health, about how TNO helps pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug development through better understanding of disease pathways.

Safe and effective drug dosing for young children come with their own challenges. Up to the age of 18, a child’s metabolism can change significantly. And in the first two years of life, those ontogenic differences can be rapid and dramatic. TNO published its findings from the first drug disposition (mass balance/metabolite profiling) study to conclusively prove that microtracing with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is an effective way to collect clinical data in these young patients. This AMS technology can also be the key to building up more data on drug interventions in pregnant and lactating mothers.