About us
History of the Centre for Applied Pharmacokinetic Research
The Centre for Applied Pharmacokinetic Research (CAPKR) at The University of Manchester was established in May 1996 as a centre of excellence in research and training of pharmacokinetics to engage in problems of generic interest to the pharmaceutical industry. CAPKR operates as a consortium in collaboration with and supported by the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, the demands and expectations of the subject have grown substantially, particularly at the extreme ends of the industrial process.
In preclinical research, emphasis is now placed on the need to predict as early as possible pharmacokinetic behaviour in humans, from molecular and physicochemical properties and in vitro measurements, to aid drug design and selection. In clinical research, there is a strong drive to improve the efficiency and design of clinical trials, through appropriate pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic modelling. This increased role of pharmacokinetics within the pharmaceutical industry has preceded scientific advances in many fundamental aspects of the processes of drug transport and metabolism and in the development of modelling procedures suitable for routine application.
It is clear that this growing demand for more generic knowledge and appropriate methodology will not be met by academia alone but requires additional resource and funding in order to progress at an acceptable rate. This was the driving force for the creation of CAPKR and the realisation that this can be best achieved through a partnership between academia and industry.
Pharmacokinetics at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
The Pharmacokinetics Group in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Manchester have long established itself as a major international centre for excellence in research and training in pharmacokinetics, from theory to practice. Research extends from basic studies of drug metabolism and transporters to development of physiological pharmacokinetic models, and through to population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies in humans.
Its academic staff are editors or on the editorial advisory board of many scientific journals. They also provide residential training courses primarily for industrial research and technical staff in basic, intermediate and advanced methods in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and they train PhD students and research staff in the subject. They also have strong connections and collaborations with industrial pharmaceutical scientists, and the majority of those that they train make careers in the pharmaceutical industry.
Thus it is no accident that CAPKR should be established at The University of Manchester.