Fundamentals of population pharmacokinetic modelling: modelling and software

Population pharmacokinetic modelling is widely used within the field of clinical pharmacology as it helps to define the sources and correlates of pharmacokinetic variability in target patient populations and their impact upon drug disposition. This review focuses on the fundamentals of population pharmacokinetic modelling and provides an overview of the commonly available software programs that perform these functions. This review attempts to define the common, fundamental aspects of population pharmacokinetic modelling through a discussion of the literature describing the techniques and placing them in the appropriate context. An overview of the most commonly available software programs is also provided. Population pharmacokinetic modelling is a powerful approach where sources and correlates of pharmacokinetic variability can be identified in a target patient population receiving a pharmacological agent. There is a need to further standardize and establish the best approaches in modelling so that any model created can be systematically evaluated and the results relied upon. Various nonlinear mixed-effects modelling methods, packaged in a variety of software programs, are available today. When selecting population pharmacokinetic software programs, the consumer needs to consider several factors, including usability (e.g. user interface, native platform, price, input and output specificity, as well as intuitiveness), content (e.g. algorithms and data output) and support (e.g. technical and clinical).