An anthracycline antitumor antibiotic, aclacinomycin A, was given to mice, rabbits or dogs intravenously to study the pharmacokinetics by photometric assay based on the absorption of anthracycline ring. The drug was rapidly eliminated from the blood in these animals. Drug levels were much higher in the blood cells than in the plasma. Tissue levels in dogs were 50 approximately 100 times higher than the blood levels, which showed the drug was rapidly transferred from the blood to tissues after administration. Higher levels were observed in the lungs, spleen and lymph nodes, where the drug was present as aclacinomycin A itself and the glycoside-type metabolites that were biologically active. The active form was also detected in the pancreas, heart, thymus, bone marrow and gastrointestinal tract. In the liver and kidneys, biologically inactive aglycone-type metabolites were observed. About 2 approximately 4% of the drug given to rabbits or dogs was recovered in the urine by 72 hours after administration, in which only 10% of the excreted drug was active form in rabbits but about 65% in dogs. The rest was inactive aglycone-type metabolites that were excreted almost in the conjugated form. Biliary excretion also contributed to the total clearance of the drug. Aclacinomycin A was absorbed even by oral administration in rabbits and dogs. Tissue distribution of the drug orally given to dogs was similar to that in intravenous administration, except that higher levels of active form were detected in the gastrointestinal tract and of inactive form in the liver.