Do pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the drug in animals are the same as in human?

Question

I'm trying to understand the purpose of different clinical trial phases, and the following question comes into my mind : Do pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the drug in animals are the same as in human?The reason I asked this question is that our professor said that pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies are performed during pre-clinical studies (in animals), as well as during clinical trial's phase 1. The answer I was thinking about is that animal's physiology cannot be the same as human's physiology, thus, pharmacological profils should be different.I just want to know more about this and feed my curiosity.

Answer 1

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics do differ between species. In veterinary medicine, we have to be very aware of species differences related to medications. So you're right that they are different. However, animal trials do give a starting point and there is data on physiological differences to help make educated predictions on how they would work in humans. This is why human trials still need to be done for a drug to be approved.