Translational PBPK/PD modeling in drug discovery: A CRO perspective

The use of translational physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) modeling has become a standard practice in drug discovery, providing advanced data integration accounting for species-specific physiology and target pharmacology. This paper provides a preclinical contract research organization (CRO) perspective on the applications, benefits, and challenges of translational PBPK/PD modeling approaches in integrated drug discovery (IDD) collaborations. We also describe how PBPK/PD approaches have impacted the role of the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics project representative (DPR) within CROs. We propose that adopting translational PBPK/PD approaches enhances the sponsor–CRO IDD partnership by fostering data-driven project decision-making and optimizing the use of resources.