Why is in vivo pharmacology critical for safety assessment?
Drug discovery and development rely on accurate safety assessment at early stages to prevent costly failures later. In vivo pharmacology—testing in living organisms—provides insights in ways unmatched by cell-based or computational systems. It remains essential for evaluating complex physiological responses, informing regulatory strategy, and ensuring safe progression toward human trials. 1. Capturing Complex Physiology Lies Beyond In Vitro Limitations Living organisms represent integrated systems where absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME), and pharmacodynamic (PD) responses interact dynamically. In vitro models—even advanced 3D cultures—struggle to recapitulate this complexity. Although 3D systems offer improvements over traditional 2D cultures, they still fail to fully capture whole-body interactions like metabolic conversion or immune responses. Only in vivo models can provide a comprehensive picture of how a drug truly performs—ensuring identification of off...