Animal Health Modeling & Simulation Society (AHM&S): A new society promoting model-based approaches for a better integration and understanding of quantitative pharmacology in Veterinary Sciences
Martin Fink (1), Jonathan P. Mochel (1,2), Johan Gabrielsson (3), Wendy Collard (4), RonetteGehring (5), Celine Laffont-Rousset (6), Yahong Liu (7), Tomas Martin-Jimenez (8), LudovicPelligand (9), Jean-Louis Steimer (1), Pierre-Louis Toutain (6), Ted Whittem (10), and Jim Riviere (5)
(1) Department of Modeling and Simulation, Novartis Campus St. Johann, 4002 Basel, Switzerland. (2) Department of Pharmacology, Leiden-Academic Centre for Drug Research, 2300 Leiden, The Netherlands. (3) Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. (4) Veterinary Medicine Research and Development, Zoetis Inc, Kalamazoo, MI 49007, USA. (5) Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA. (6) INRA, UMR 1331, Toxalim, F-31027 Toulouse, France. (7) Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. (8) Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. (9) Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Herts, UK. (10) Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria, Australia
The Animal Health Modeling & Simulation Society (AHM&S) is a newly founded association (2012) that aims at promoting the development, application, and dissemination of modeling and simulation techniques in the field of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology. The association is co-chaired by Pr. Johan Gabrielsson (Europe) and Pr. Jim Riviere (USA), and currently counts about 15 founding core members from both academia and industry.
Our objectives The primary objective of the society is to maximize the value of available pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics datasets to identify physiological and pathological factors that account for differences in drug safety and efficacy in animals. Examples (not exhaustive) of data analyses of interest to our group include:- Quantitative pharmacology Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics comprise traditionally distinct disciplines within pharmacology, the study of the interaction of drugs with the body. It is our intention to show that by deliberately, closely and systematically integrating these disciplines our understanding of drugs and the efficiency and effectiveness of drug discovery and development may be greatly enhanced.
- Dosing regimen determination Conduct of dose/exposure/response modeling to estimate an efficacious and safe dose for a new or already existing molecule to be used in companion animals (individual treatment), and food producing animals (collective treatment).
- Withdrawal time determination In food animal medicine the veterinarian must be sure an effective dose of drug is given but also that the edible products from the treated animals do not contain residues of the drug at or above the permitted concentrations when processed for marketing.
- Trial design and analysis Optimization of trial design through simulation of scenarios; provide support to trial analysis, interpretation, and decision making. This goal includes but is not limited to: adaptive designs, dose finding, compliance modeling, and evaluation of endpoints.
- Disease modeling Quantitative characterization of the disease progress as a function of time and other predictors; to determine relationships among prognostic factors, biomarkers, and clinical outcomes in available data.
Conclusion The AHM&S offers a new scientific platform promoting cross-fertilization among basic, translational, and clinical research between species, using model-based approaches.
