A doctoral thesis carried out at the University of Navarra has made it possible to describe the anti-tumor response exerted by a new vaccine at development for the treatment of cervical cancer. The work, in which the research center Applied Medicine (Gene Therapy and Hepatology Division) has collaborated, was carried out through pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling, using data experimental mice.

According to the author of the study, Zinnia Parra-Guillén, a researcher at group Pharmacometrics at department at Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology,"this subject approach makes it possible to anticipate clinical results in humans, goal the main focus of translational research , and thus helps to reduce the high failure rate in the late phases of the development of new drugs. Moreover, having been developed "in silico", i.e. by means of computer simulation, it has enabled savings in costs and time for research", he emphasizes.

The purpose of research was to show the great potential of integrating the models (kinetic and dynamic) during the early stages of development of different therapeutic proteins and gene therapy products.

The model interprets complex biological information
The importance of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling in the field of experimental and applied pharmacology lies in the fact that it allows complex information obtained from different levels (gene expression, drug concentration in different organs, pharmacological responses, etc.) to be analyzed in an integrated manner, facilitating a better understanding of the system under study. However, as the doctor explains,"its application in biotechnological products, a relatively new area but increasingly expanding field, is still limited, especially during the initial stages of its preclinical development ".

Zinnia Patricia's doctoral thesis obtained the European doctorate and one of her figures was selected to illustrate the cover of the September issue cover of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, journal of reference letter in the area of pharmacology and pharmacy.