The Pharmaceutical Drug Development Process: Selecting a Suitable Drug Candidate

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Lionel Trottet
2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 6477-6483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Malfatti ◽  
Victoria Lao ◽  
Courtney L. Ramos ◽  
Voon S. Ong ◽  
Kenneth W. Turteltaub

ABSTRACTDetermining the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of drug candidates is essential for understanding their biological fate. The ability to obtain human PK information early in the drug development process can help determine if future development is warranted. Microdosing was developed to assess human PKs, at ultra-low doses, early in the drug development process. Microdosing has also been used in animals to confirm PK linearity across subpharmacological and pharmacological dose ranges. The current study assessed the PKs of a novel antimicrobial preclinical drug candidate (GP-4) in rats as a step toward human microdosing studies. Dose proportionality was determined at 3 proposed therapeutic doses (3, 10, and 30 mg/kg of body weight), and PK linearity between a microdose and a pharmacological dose was assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats. Plasma PKs over the 3 pharmacological doses were proportional. Over the 10-fold dose range, the maximum concentration in plasma and area under the curve (AUC) increased 9.5- and 15.8-fold, respectively. PKs from rats dosed with a14C-labeled microdose versus a14C-labeled pharmacological dose displayed dose linearity. In the animals receiving a microdose and the therapeutically dosed animals, the AUCs from time zero to infinity were 2.6 ng · h/ml and 1,336 ng · h/ml, respectively, and the terminal half-lives were 5.6 h and 1.4 h, respectively. When the AUC values were normalized to a dose of 1.0 mg/kg, the AUC values were 277.5 ng · h/ml for the microdose and 418.2 ng · h/ml for the pharmacological dose. This 1.5-fold difference in AUC following a 300-fold difference in dose is considered linear across the dose range. On the basis of the results, the PKs from the microdosed animals were considered to be predictive of the PKs from the therapeutically dosed animals.


Author(s):  
Michael Tansey

Clinical research is heavily regulated and involves coordination of numerous pharmaceutical-related disciplines. Each individual trial involves contractual, regulatory, and ethics approval at each site and in each country. Clinical trials have become so complex and government requirements so stringent that researchers often approach trials too cautiously, convinced that the process is bound to be insurmountably complicated and riddled with roadblocks. A step back is needed, an objective examination of the drug development process as a whole, and recommendations made for streamlining the process at all stages. With Intelligent Drug Development, Michael Tansey systematically addresses the key elements that affect the quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of the drug-development process, and identifies steps that can be adjusted and made more efficient. Tansey uses his own experiences conducting clinical trials to create a guide that provides flexible, adaptable ways of implementing the necessary processes of development. Moreover, the processes described in the book are not dependent either on a particular company structure or on any specific technology; thus, Tansey's approach can be implemented at any company, regardless of size. The book includes specific examples that illustrate some of the ways in which the principles can be applied, as well as suggestions for providing a better context in which the changes can be implemented. The protocols for drug development and clinical research have grown increasingly complex in recent years, making Intelligent Drug Development a needed examination of the pharmaceutical process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1063-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia Bujkiewicz ◽  
John R. Thompson ◽  
Richard D. Riley ◽  
Keith R. Abrams

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Lacombe ◽  
Lifang Liu ◽  
Françoise Meunier ◽  
Vassilis Golfinopoulos

There is room for improvement for optimally bringing the latest science to the patient while taking into account patient priorities such as quality of life. Too often, regulatory agencies, governments, and funding agencies do not stimulate the integration of research into care and vice versa. Re-engineering the drug development process is a priority, and healthcare systems are long due for transformation. On one hand, patients need efficient access to treatments, but despite precision oncology approaches, efficiently shared screening platforms for sorting patients based on the biology of their tumour for trial access are lacking and, on the other hand, the true value of cancer care is poorly addressed as central questions such as dose, scheduling, duration, and combination are not or sub-optimally addressed by registration trials. Solid evidence on those parameters could potentially lead to a rational and wiser use of anti-cancer treatments. Together, optimally targeting patient population and robust comparative effectiveness data could lead to more affordable and economically sound approaches. The drug development process and healthcare models need to be interconnected through redesigned systems taking into account the full math from drug development into affordable care.


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