04.02 Pharmacological Profiling

Once a lead compound has been discovered (e.g. a drug with activity at a certain biding site), the compound undergoes pharmacological profiling. A large number of experiments are undertaken, mainly using animals, to determine the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the drug. Questions asked include; does the drug do what we expect? Does it do anything else? Is it active after oral administration? The initial profiling usually depends on the pharmacological goal e.g. anti-infectives will be tested against infectious organisms. Anti-diabetic drugs will be tested for their ability to lower blood glucose in animal models of diabetes.