Drug-like Properties and ADME of Xanthone Derivatives: The Antechamber of Clinical Trials.

Xanthone derivatives have been described as compounds with a privileged scaffold exhibiting diverse biological/pharmacological activities, what directed the interest to pursue the development of these derivatives into drug candidates. Nevertheless, to achieve this purpose it is crucial to study their pharmacokinetics and toxicity (PK/tox) properties as decision endpoints to continue or interrupt the development investment. This review aims to expose the most relevant analytical methods used in the physicochemical and PK/tox studies in order to detect, quantify, and identify different bioactive xanthones.