MEDSCI 318 aims to help us understand the science behind how medicines are developed and used effectively and safely. It is primarily concerned with pharmacokinetics (PK) and drug toxicity. PK describes the relationship between the drug dose and its tissue concentration, and how the drug concentration changes with time. PK integrates the processes of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) quantitatively (with numbers) by determining parameters, which can be used to calculate the dose required to achieve a target concentration. PK knowledge helps us decide how much drug to take, by which route and when, so that clinical benefit can be maximised. However, drugs can also have harmful effects (toxicity), which are concentration-dependent. Understanding a drug’s PK characteristics can be used to predict and prevent adverse drug effects early in the drug development process, as well as to understand toxicities observed in certain patients using already approved medicines (sometimes referred to as toxicokinetics (TK), rather than PK). Understanding PK, therefore, is critical both for the development and evaluation of new drugs, as well as the selection of an appropriate dose in clinical pharmacology. The role of PK in the effective and safe use of medicines is the focus of MEDSCI 318.
To put these concepts in context we focus on two key scenarios which form the basis of our labs, lectures and workshops in the first and second half of semester accordingly:
1. Selection of a safe starting dose for a first-in-human clinical trial.
2. Adjustment of dose(s) of approved medicines to accommodate differences between individual patients.
If you are interested in developing new drugs, how drug regulatory authorities like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make decisions to test and approve drugs, understanding prescribing, understanding adverse drug reactions and more, join us in MEDSCI 318 Pharmacokinetics and Drug Toxicity!