Introduction

The development of analytical chemistry brought about an acute awareness of the importance of controlling the contents of a product. A corollary to the concerns for product quality and effectiveness is the challenge to physicians and pharmacists to consider the impact of the sciences on clinical practice. Since studies involving the rates of drug transfer employ kinetic methods, biopharmaceutics is closely linked to pharmacokinetics. Pharmacologist might use the following criteria: contents, percent strength, purity, safety, clinical effectiveness, bioavailability. Clinical effectiveness and bioavailability were thus added to the criteria for effective drug product development. Since the movement of drug from the site of administration to the site of action requires time, the overall process may best be analyzed by pharmacokinetics. Furthermore, a drug which has been proven effective can be rendered ineffective owing to lack of bioavailability. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.