Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacodynamics

While systems biology and pharmacodynamics have evolved in parallel,there are significant interrelationships that can enhance drug discovery and enable optimized therapy for each patient. Systems pharmacology is the relatively new disciplinethat is theinterface between these two methods. This book is the first tocover the expertise from systems biology and pharmacodynamics researchers, describing how systems pharmacology may be developed and refined further to show practical applications in drug development. There is a growing awareness that pharmaceutical companies should reduce the high attrition in the pipeline due to insufficient efficacy or toxicity found inproof-of-concept and/or PhaseII studies. Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacodynamicsdiscusses theframework for integrating information obtained fromunderstanding physiological/pathological pathways (normal body function system vs. perturbed system due to disease) and pharmacological targetsin order to predict clinical efficacy and adverse events through iterations between mathematical modeling and experimentation.