Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global emergence of antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health. In light of this, it is of utmost importance that new agents and target sites for drugs are identified. Once new lead compounds have been identified, the active agent’s pharmacological properties must be optimised for use in hospitals. The aim of the PK/PD Unit is to conduct pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics studies to analyse the therapeutic efficacy and dosage of novel antibiotics. To do so, a combination of different in vitro, in vivo und in silico methods is employed at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. Only those candidates that succeed during the in-depth in vitro profiling are further characterized in vivo by pharmacological trials. Within this, cytotoxicity will be tested in cell culture assays and it is examined if the potential therapeutic compound displays a superior pharmacokinetic profile. The data from these trials make a crucial contribution towards the translation of research results into clinical application.