In vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in drug development using positron-emission tomography

Positron-emission tomography (PET) is a sensitive technique that can be used to measure drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics noninvasively in target tissues of patients. Here we focus on the application of this technology to address some of the bottlenecks in drug development, including: elucidation of pathophysiology: evaluation of pharmacokinetics, proof of principle of mechanism, and assessment of efficacy and/or response to therapy.