Interplay between Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenomics

Abstract

Pharmacogenomics represents an attempt to optimize the efficacy of drugs, minimize adverse drug reactions, and facilitate drug discovery, development, and approval. Understanding an individual's genetic makeup can be the key to creating personalized drugs with greater efficacy and safety, as pharmacogenetic testing can be used to identify individuals who may be more susceptible to adverse drug reactions. Interindividual variability in the pharmacokinetics of many medicinal products is prone to interindividual variability. Pharmacogenomics should be considered one of the factors affecting the pharmacokinetics of a drug. When a polymorphism in a metabolizing enzyme and/or transporter causes a difference in exposure, it may alter efficacy or safety.