'Biotic Man' Eyed to Speed Building Drugs

HDM Breaking News, November 20, 2008

GE Global Research and the Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative within the Department of Defense will jointly develop a "virtual human" computer model to speed development of new drugs.

The two-year "Biotic Man" project, funded with $1.1 million under a DoD contract, will advance an application that Niskayuna, N.Y.-based GE Global Research previously developed. The existing Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic software, called PBPK, uses computational models to measure a drug's response in the body long before clinical trials begin.

GE researchers now will modify PDPK to model the effect of bacterial, viral or other infectious agents on the human body. The modified tool, for instance, will simulate the response of new antibiotic or antiviral drug therapies to combat specific treats, such as biological attacks.

Researchers also will modify PDPK to show the physiological changes in a critically ill patient suffering from burns, trauma or recent surgery to help evaluate the effectiveness of drug therapy under the various conditions under which it is administered.

More information on GE Global Research is available at ge.com/research.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

• Medical Imaging
• Medication Management
• Vendor News
• Hospitals
• Group Practices