Target validation in silico: does the virtual patient cure the pharma pipeline?
Target validation in silico: does the virtual patient cure the pharma pipeline?
2006 Oct
Alkema W, Rullmann T, van Elsas A.
Expert opinion on therapeutic targets
PubMed
Genomics has multiplied the number of targets for new therapeutic interventions, but this has not yet lead to a marked increase of pharma pipeline outputs. The complexity of protein function in higher order biological systems is often underestimated. Translation from in vitro and in vivo results to the human setting frequently fails due to unforeseen toxicity and efficacy issues. Biosimulation addresses these issues by capturing the complex dynamics of interacting molecules and cells in mechanistic, predictive models. A central concept is that of the virtual patient, an encapsulation of a specific pathophysiological behaviour in a biosimulation model. The authors describe how virtual patients are being used in target identification, target validation and clinical development, and discuss challenges for the acceptance of biosimulation methods.
PMID: 16981820 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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