Preclinical Drug Safety and Cardiac Ion Channel Screening

An effective approach to detect drug candidates that may exert unwanted effects on heart rate and rhythm is critical when characterizing the cardiovascular safety profile of novel drugs. As all cardiac channels represent potential off-target liabilities, numerous approaches have been developed to detect undesirable cardiac electrophysiologic effects during drug discovery. This chapter will describe strategies to assess potential proarrhythmic liabilities early in drug discovery using lessons learned from experiences with drugs that affect the hERG channel and cause acquired long QT syndrome.