Pharmacokinetics (PK) is generally referred to as ‘what the body does to the drug’ versus ‘what the drug does to the body’ (pharmacodynamics [PD]). Pharmacokinetics describes the fate, or time course, of an administered drug within the body.
The physiological processes that determine the time course of the drug are Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Elimination (ADME). Both the desired effects and undesired effects of a drug are related to the drug levels in the body. The pharmacokinetic properties of a drug determine these levels. Ultimately, the optimal dose and dosing regimen to reach the desired or therapeutic drug levels are determined by means of pharmacokinetics.
hVIVO plc (formerly Open Orphan plc) is a rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) and the world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical trials, providing end-to-end early clinical development services for its broad and long-standing client base of biopharma companies.
