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Dear colleague,
further to modelling vancomycin and gentamycin pharmacokinetics I would like to
draw your attention to the USC-Pack, developed at the University of Southern
California by R. Jelliffe, A. Schumitzky and many others. It has got
implemented population pharmacokinetic models of these and other drugs from
this class, compared to NONMEM, learning to handle the programme takes much
less time and it has got an added advantage that cannot be overestimated: it
uses the nonparametric NPEM algorithm in the fitting process. Consequently,
(often unrealistic) assumptions usually imposed on the distribution of e.g.
individual pharmacokinetic parameters are not necessary.
For more detailed information you can contact
Roger W. Jelliffe, M.D. Professor of Medicine, USC
USC Laboratory of Applied Pharmacokinetics
2250 Alcazar St, Los Angeles CA 90033, USA
Phone (323)442-1300, fax (323)442-1302, email= jelliffe.-a-.hsc.usc.edu
Web site= http://www.usc.edu/hsc/lab_apk.
So far, we have made some comparison studies and we are very satisfied with the
nonparametric approach, which may be considered at least a valuable
additional tool in population pharmacokinetic modelling and clinical trial
simulation.
Harry Mager
Bayer AG
Clinical Pharmacology
D-42096 Wuppertal
Phone: 0049-202-368891
E Mail: Harry.Mager.HM.-at-.Bayer-Ag.de
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Dear Dr. Mager,
I agree wholeheartedly. The NPEM algorithm is consistent and robust. I would
also call attention to the fact that Schumitzky, Jelliffe, Leary et al have
implemented "BigNPEM" on a UCSD Supercomputer (Cray T3E - a highly
paralleled, distributed memory machine) which allows implementation of any
model which can be written as differential equations, much as in classical
ADAPT II (D'Argenio et al). Calling the authors will usually result in the
ability to use this very powerful addition to the modeling armamentarium.
George Drusano
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Copyright 1995-2010 David W. A. Bourne (david@boomer.org)