Pharmacokinetic Modeling and Optimal Experimental Design: Applications and Prospects

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 555

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Estudios Farmacológicos y Toxicológicos (LEFyT), Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata B1900, Argentina
Interests: antimicrobial agents; pharmacokinetics; pharmacodynamics; PK/PD integration; residues; veterinary pharmacology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Estudios Farmacológicos y Toxicológicos (LEFyT), Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata B1900, Argentina
Interests: PKPD models; antimicrobial agents; pharmacokinetics; pharmacodynamics; residues; veterinary pharmacology; pharmacobotany

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling has become an essential tool in drug development, clinical pharmacology, veterinary medicine, and regulatory science. From defining optimal dosing regimens to understanding variability across populations and species, pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling provides a mechanistic framework for interpreting drug concentration-time profiles and predicting therapeutic outcomes.

This Special Issue aims to bring together high-quality original research and critical reviews that advance the field of pharmacokinetic modeling and its integration with optimal experimental design (OED). Optimal design methods enable researchers to maximize the efficiency and informativeness of experiments, minimize the use of animals and humans, and accelerate the translation of science. These approaches are especially relevant in light of regulatory, ethical, and economic constraints in both human and veterinary drug development.

We welcome submissions covering a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:

  • Novel PK modeling strategies (compartmental, non-compartmental, and physiologically based);
  • Bayesian and population modeling approaches;
  • Optimal experimental design in preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics;
  • Applications of PK models to antimicrobial stewardship and resistance mitigation;
  • Integration of PK/PD models and simulation tools;
  • Applications of modeling in One Health contexts, translational pharmacology, and personalized medicine;
  • Machine learning and AI in pharmacokinetic modeling;
  • Ethical and regulatory perspectives on model-informed approaches.

This Special Issue aims to explore how advanced pharmacometric tools can optimize drug use, inform regulatory decisions, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration across pharmaceutical, clinical, and veterinary sciences.

We encourage both theoretical and applied contributions. Join us in shaping the future of model-informed drug development and precision therapeutics.

Prof. Dr. Nora Mestorino
Dr. Daniel Buldain
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • pharmacokinetic modelling
  • optimal experimental design
  • PK/PD integration
  • model-informed drug development
  • bayesian pharmacometrics
  • translational pharmacology
  • veterinary pharmacology
  • precision dosing
  • machine learning in pharmacology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

23 pages, 715 KB  
Article
Diffusion Dominated Drug Release from Cylindrical Matrices
by George Kalosakas and Eirini Gontze
Processes 2025, 13(12), 3850; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13123850 - 28 Nov 2025
Viewed by 183
Abstract
Drug delivery from cylindrical tablets of arbitrary dimensions is discussed here, using the analytical solution of diffusion equation. Utilizing dimensionless quantities, we show that the release profiles are determined by a unique parameter, represented by the aspect ratio of the cylindrical formulation. Fractional [...] Read more.
Drug delivery from cylindrical tablets of arbitrary dimensions is discussed here, using the analytical solution of diffusion equation. Utilizing dimensionless quantities, we show that the release profiles are determined by a unique parameter, represented by the aspect ratio of the cylindrical formulation. Fractional release curves are presented for different values of the aspect ratio, covering a range of many orders of magnitude. The corresponding release profiles lie in between the two opposite limits of release from thin slabs and two-dimensional radial release, pertinent to the cases of thin and long cylinders, respectively. In a quest for a part of the delivery process closer to a zero-order release, the release rate is calculated, which is found to exhibit the typical behavior of purely diffusional release systems. Two simple fitting formulae, containing two parameters each, are considered to approximate the infinite series of the exact solution: The stretched exponential (Weibull) function and a recently suggested expression interpolating between the correct time dependencies at the initial and final stages of the process. The latter provides a better fitting in all cases. The variation of the fitting parameters with the aspect ratio of the device is presented for both fitting functions. We also calculate the characteristic release time, which is found to correspond to an amount of fractional release between 64% and around 68% depending on the cylindrical aspect ratio. We discuss how the last quantities can be used to estimate the drug diffusion coefficient from experimental release profiles and apply these ideas to published drug delivery data. Full article
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