ABSTRACT
A denition of population pharmacokinetics (PPK) is “the study of the sources and correlates of variability in drug concentrations among individuals who are the target patient population receiving clinically relevant doses of a drug of interest” (Aarons, 1991; FDA Guidance for Industry, 1999). The goals of PPK studies are mainly to obtain relevant pharmacokinetic parameters in a group of patients that represent the target population, and measuring the variability between the subjects and linking it to various demographical, pathophysiological, genetic, and environmental factors. The ultimate aim is to optimize different aspects of therapy; for example, designing effective dosing regimen for a patient population that suffers from organ failure or population of patients that require combination therapy and are vulnerable to drug-drug interaction, etc.
