The importance of predicting human pharmacokinetics during compound selection has been recognized in the pharmaceutical industry. To this end there are many different approaches that are applied.

Why don’t computer systems help me as much as I think they should?
Answer: We don’t really understand the requirements of the process.
Chapter 2 of 3. Need to catch up? Read the previous post in this series about scientific workflows.

A Model of Threshold Behavior Reveals Rescue Mechanisms of Bystander Proteins in Conformational Diseases
Conformational diseases result from the failure of a specific protein to fold into its correct functional state. The misfolded proteins can lead to the toxic aggregation of proteins.

Scientific workflows – the knowledge-generating engines of R&D.
Scientific research requires two kinds of effort. One is the generation and synthesis of original ideas by skilled practitioners. This is a desirable and often lauded talent that can spawn remarkable innovations in science and medical care. The second kind of effort is less visible, but equally important—the hard work required to turn an idea into reality. Executing the experiments, analyzing the data, and developing presentations of results are examples of this work. Although these latter efforts are necessary, and even enjoyable, they nonetheless can be tedious, time-consuming, and expensive.

Simulations Plus Sets Date for 2nd Quarter 2011 Earnings Release and Conference Call
Conference Call to Be on Monday, April 18, at 4:15 PM EDT

Simulations Plus (SLP) Releases MedChem Studio 2.0
Adds New MedChem Designer Molecule Drawing, Expanded Graphics, and More

Mixture Modeling as a Data Imputation Method
To demonstrate the use of mixture modeling in population PK analysis to predict drug concentrations for a subset of subjects with missing data for a key categorical covariate.

A Semi-mechanistic Approach to PK/PD Modeling of Complex Response Data: Bone Turnover Example for Odanacatib, a Cathepsin K Inhibitor
A variety of approaches can be taken to incorporate greater mechanistic understanding into PK/PD models, including a variety of bottom-up, middle-out, and top-down approaches. The osteoporosis field…

Black tea improves attention and self-reported alertness
Tea has previously been demonstrated to better help sustain alertness throughout the day in open-label studies.

Productivity is not a four letter word.
For me, anyway, the point of opinion writing is less to try to shape events, a presumptuous and foolhardy ambition at best, than to help stimulate debate and, from my particular perspective, try to explain why things got the way they are and what they might mean and where they might lead. My own idiosyncratic bent as a writer, no doubt a legacy of my years spent in the theater, is to look for a narrative in the many competing dramas unfolding on the national stage.
Frank Rich, New York Times

Astronomy picture of the day.
During the time that I was a clinical pharmacology fellow with Lewis Sheiner and Stuart Beal in San Francisco, the Voyager mission [1] was sending back incredible images of the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

New to an Organization: Tools to Assess Projects and Teams
The complexity of project management and its value increase exponentially as the number and complexity of projects and interdisciplinary team participation increases.

Exposure–Response Analysis of Eslicarbazepine Acetate as Adjunctive Treatment of Patients With Partial-onset Seizures
Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) is a novel once-daily (QD) antiepileptic drug (AED) currently under clinical development in the US. ESL is rapidly and extensively metabolized to its major active metabolite…

Population Pharmacokinetics of Eslicarbazepine Acetate in Patients With Partial-onset Seizures
Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) is a novel once-daily antiepileptic drug (AED) currently under clinical development in the US. Following oral administration, ESL is rapidly and extensively metabolized…

Utility of Physiologically Based Absorption Modeling in Implementing Quality by Design in Drug Development
To implement Quality by Design (QbD) in drug development, scientists need tools that link drug products properties to in vivo performance

In Vitro-In Vivo Correlation for Gliclazide Immediate-Release Tablets Based on Mechanistic Absorption Simulation.
The aim of this study was to develop a drug-specific absorption model for gliclazide (GLK) using mechanistic gastrointestinal simulation technology (GIST) implemented...

Prediction of Oral Pharmacokinetics of cMet Kinase Inhibitors in Humans: Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model versus Traditional One Compartment Model.
The objective of this study was to assess the physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for predicting plasma concentration-time profiles...

Computers win on Oscar night.
Did you watch the Oscars? A year ago, the 3D blockbuster, Avatar, was denied the Oscar for best film, which went to a low-budget war movie called The Hurt Locker. However, Avatar did win 3 Oscars in technical categories: Cinematography, Art Direction, and Visual Effects.

Simulations Plus Reports Preliminary Revenues for Second Fiscal Quarter of FY2011
String of Record Quarters Sustains Multi-Year Growth Trend

Simulations Plus (“SLP”) Releases ADMET Predictor Version 5.5
New Predictions Further Extend Best-in-Class Software