Pharmacology is the study of the interactions of drugs with biological systems, especially with relation to the drugs’ therapeutic value. Like toxicology, pharmacology relies heavily upon understanding a chemical’s mechanism of action and characterizing dose-response relationships. Whereas toxicology emphasizes the characterization of adverse or toxic effects of chemical or biological agents, pharmacology emphasizes understanding their therapeutic action and their benefits to alleviating disease and symptoms, with the goal of reducing side effects.
Intertox Pharmacology Services
Intertox staff work with our clients in the following areas:
- Study design and development of protocols for animal and clinical drug studies.
- Analysis of data to establish drug efficacy, safety, and toxicity, and characterize individual factors that modulate these parameters.
- Evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of drugs in animals and humans.
- Identification of uncertainty and data needs.
- Assistance with the FDA regulatory approval process.
- Litigation support with respect to drug efficacy, safety, and toxicity.
Intertox professionals provide particular expertise in several specialized pharmacological disciplines including endocrine pharmacology, which focuses on drugs that are either hormones, hormone derivatives, or affect naturally present hormones, and neuropharmacology, which focuses on how drugs affect the nervous system. Our work in the area of endocrine pharmacology includes understanding how residual levels of drugs that impact the endocrine system, in the environment (e.g., in drinking water) may affect human or ecological health. Our work in neuropharmacology includes examination of the effects of drugs on behavior and development. A particular area of focus is to understand how drugs and toxicants interact to modulate drug efficacy or increase toxicity.