Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, commonly referred to as DMPK, deals with the safety and efficacy evaluation of drug candidates before entering clinical trials. DMPK services form the basis for optimizing compounds so that bioavailability, drug-drug interactions (DDI), and related risks to a drug compound can be evaluated. Assessment of DMPK profiles minimizes the rate of attrition of drug candidates and increases the efficiency of drug discovery overall.
The objective of DMPK studies is to evaluate multiple properties of drugs, such as clearance, distribution volume, half-life, bioavailability, drug-drug interaction, and metabolic profile. In addition, conducting DMPK studies during drug discovery and development allows chemists to achieve reasonable structural modifications such that pharmacokinetic properties and efficacy of the drug can be improved.