Globalization of quantitative pharmacology: first international symposium of quantitative pharmacology in drug development and regulation.

The First International Symposium on Quantitative Pharmacology in Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences was held this past October in Nanjing, China, marking the first time scientists from around the globe gathered to discuss topics related to quantitative pharmacology in the Far East. With the recent trend toward global drug development and clinical trials in nontraditional countries, China has been regarded by many as the next frontier for the pharmaceutical industry. Quantitative pharmacology embraces all phases of pharmaceutical research and development, providing a mechanism to bridge decision making from one phase of development to the next, and it facilitates multidisciplinary partnerships through the assembly of both data and models that describe complex biological, biopharmaceutic, and clinical settings. Efforts in China are at an early stage, but it is clear that Chinese scientists embrace the discipline and are keen to promote this methodology in the registration of new drugs in China. While challenges exist, they represent an exciting area of future collaboration.