Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Auckland
Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Auckland

History of Pharmacometrics

Who invented the aphorism "Pharmacokinetics is what the body does to the drug - pharmacodynamics is what the drug does to the body"?

A potential precursor of this phrase is expressed in German in a book written by Prof Wolfgang Ritschel and published in 1973. Thanks are due to Professor Vicente G. Casabó, Universidad de Valencia and Honorific Professor Adela Martin-Villodre (Professor Pla-Delfina's widow) who found the book indicated below in her private library: ANGEWANDTE BIOPHARMAZIE ISBN 3 8047 0457 3 WISSENSCHAFTLICHE VERLAGSGESELLSCHAFT MBH 1973 Stuttgart, Germany



A claim for its first recorded use in English in 1984, with some simplification that no doubt contributed to its popularity, was by Professor Leslie Benet who describes it like this in an email to Nick Holford on 9 Nov 2008:

'I did a little more searching.  I do think that I was the first to publish those definitions, and I have now found it in two of my chapter publications in 1984.

However, the most relevant is my single authored Chapter entitled, "Pharmacokinetics: Basic Principles and Its Use as a Tool in Drug Metabolism", which begins "Pharmacokinetics may be simply defined as what the body does to the drug, as opposed to pharmacodynamics which may be defined as what the drug does to the body"  p 199 in Drug Metabolism and Drug Toxicity, JR Mitchell and MG Horning eds., Raven Press, New York, 1984.

This is the most relevant because the book resulted from an ASPET Workshop titled the same as the book that was held October 9-12, 1980 in Houston .  My talk was on October 9.  By the way, I keep a record of the titles of all the slides that I present.  I see no prior reference to that definition of pharmacokinetics before that talk.  And at least for me, I can really pinpoint that the definition above was created in early October 1980, because on October 2 at the First North American Conference on the Effects of Disease States on Clinical Pharmacokinetics in Vancouver, BC, my slide used the more conventional definition of pharmacokinetics, "Pharmacokinetics is the study of the kinetics of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs, and their corresponding pharmacologic, therapeutic and toxic response in man and animals."  '


The first known published use of the aphorism appears to be in a review by Holford & Sheiner in 1982.



Holford NHG, Sheiner LB. Kinetics of pharmacologic response. Pharmacol Ther. 1982;16:143-66.

Documented examples of earlier uses are welcomed. Please contact Nick Holford.