Method and apparatus for assaying a drug candidate

Medicilon's pharmacokinetics department offers the clients a broad spectrum of high quality of services in the areas of in vitro ADME, in vivo pharmacokinetics and bioanalysis services, ranging from small molecules to large molecules, such as protein and antibody. The animal species involved in our services are non-human primate, canine, mice, rat, rabbit and hamster. Meanwhile, non-human primate experimental platform and isotope platform for protein/antibody are certified by the Shanghai Government. Email:marketing@medicilon.com.cn Web:www.medicilon.com

A method and apparatus for assaying a drug candidate with a biosensor having one or more sensing surface-bound biomolecules associated therewith are disclosed. The method comprises the steps of measuring the binding interaction between the drug candidate and the one or more sensing surface-bound biomolecules of the biosensor to obtain an estimate of at least one binding interaction parameter of the drug candidate, and then comparing the estimated binding interaction parameter against a mathematical expression correlated from binding interaction data associated with known drug compounds to determine an estimate of at least pharmacokinetic parameter of absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion (ADME) that is related to the drug candidate. The present invention allows for the simultaneous measurement of different pharmacokinetic parameters of the drug candidate, as well as an indication of the drug candidate's solubility, by use of a single analytical instrument. The pharmacokinetic data may be represented as a ADME characterization profile; such ADME profiles are of great utility for purposes of drug screening and lead optimization.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is generally directed to a method and apparatus for assaying a drug candidate and, more specifically, to a method for measuring the binding interaction between a drug candidate and sensing surface-bound biomolecules of a biosensor to determine a binding interaction parameter of the drug candidate, and then comparing the binding interaction parameter against a predetermined drug correlation graph (e.g., a mathematical expression) to estimate at least one pharmacokinetic parameter.

2. Description of the Related Art

A variety of experimental techniques are currently used to determine chemical, physical and biological properties associated with low molecular weight substances, particularly in the context of drug discovery. For example, researchers are often concerned with determining a variety of chemical, physical and biological properties associated with drug candidates for screening purposes. The determination of such properties often plays a pivotal role in the drug development and screening process.

More specifically, it has long been recognized that the intensity and duration of the pharmacological effect of a systemically acting drug are functions not only of the intrinsic activity of the drug, but also of its absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) characteristics within the human body. These so-called ADME characteristics are all intimately related to the scientific discipline known as “pharmacokinetics.” Pharmacokinetics is commonly referred to as the study of the time courses (i.e., kinetics) associated with the dynamic processes of ADME of a drug and/or its metabolites within a living organism, and is closely interrelated with the fields of biopharmaceutics, pharmacology, and therapeutics.

Because the body delays the transport of drug molecules across membranes, dilutes them into various compartments of distribution, transforms them into metabolites, and eventually excretes them, it is often difficult to accurately predict the pharmacological effect of promising new drug candidates. Researchers, however, commonly use pharmacokinetic ADME studies as one method to predict the efficacy of a drug at a site of action within the body.

Traditionally, researchers involved with preclinical ADME studies have used pharmacokinetic/mathematical models coupled with actual drug concentration data from blood (or serum or plasma) and/or urine, as well as concentration data from various tissues, to characterize the behavior and “fate” of a drug within living organisms. As is appreciated by those skilled in the art, the mathematical equations associated with pharmacokinetics are generally based on models that conceive the body as a multicompartmental organism. In such models it is presumed that the drug and/or its metabolites are equitably dispersed in one or several fluids/tissues of the organism. Any conglomerate of fluid or tissue which acts as if it is kinetically homogeneous may be termed a “compartment.” Each compartment acts as an isotropic fluid in which the molecules of drug that enter are homogeneously dispersed and where kinetic dependencies of the dynamic pharmacokinetic processes may be formulated as functions of the amounts or concentrations of drug and metabolites therein. Stated somewhat differently, the conceptual compartments of the body are separated by barriers that prevent the free diffusion of drug among them; the barriers are kinetically definable in that the rate of transport of drug or metabolite across membrane barriers between compartments is a function of, for example, the amounts or concentrations of drug and metabolites in the compartments, the permeability of various membranes, and/or the amount of plasma protein binding and general tissue binding.

More specifically, pharmacokinetic/mathematical models are commonly used by pharmacokineticists to represent drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion as functions of time within the various tissues and organs of the body. In such models, the movement of the administered drug throughout the body is concisely described in mathematical terms. The predictive capability of such models lies in the proper selection and development of mathematical functions that parameterize the essential factors governing the kinetic process under consideration.