Pharmacometrics
What is pharmacometrics?
Pharmacometrics is a scientific field that quantifies drug, disease, and trial information through mathematical and statistical models that use in silico, in vitro, and in vivo preclinical and clinical data. Its goal is to aid efficient drug development and regulatory decisions.
The drug models used in pharmacometrics describe drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, which are the relationships between exposure and response, respectively, for desired and undesired effects. Pharmacometrics may also utilize specific disease models to describe the relationship between biomarkers and clinical outcomes.
How does pharmacometrics improve healthcare?
Ultimately, pharmacometrics allows for better decision-making with drug therapies. One of the goals of pharmacometrics is to find the optimal drug dosing regimen for a patient that maximizes benefits and minimizes side effects, which lends itself to the safety and effectiveness studies conducted before a pharmaceutical company receives FDA approval.
Pharmacometrics can be used to understand the relationship between a drug, the patient, and the disease; a better understanding of disease response to medications can then influence the direction of future research and medical advancements.