Products: PDx-MC-PEM
POPULATION ANALYSIS TOOL USING THE MONTE CARLO PARAMETRIC EXPECTATION MAXIMIZATION METHOD


PDx-MC-PEM is an exploratory analysis software tool for pharmacometric analyses. This standalone software application is a practical implementation of the expectation-maximization methodology which evaluates point estimates of population parameters from pharmacokinetic (PK)/Pharmacodynamic (PD) data, without linearizing the expectation step. With a graphical user interface (GUI) applied to the core MC-PEM product, this tool operates within the Microsoft Windows environment for enhanced efficiency and convenience.

Overview
Using a Monte Carlo Parametric Expectation Maximization method:
PK/PD parameters are modeled to be multivariate normally or log-normally distributed among subjects.
Observed data are modeled to have measurement error that is normally distributed about the predicted value for each subject. The variance is either constant or proportional to the square of the predicted value (constant cv)
Population parameters may be modeled to patient characteristics (covariates), and intra-subject error coefficients may also be determined.

Highlights
May be useful in determining approximate population parameter estimates for datasets which have been shown to be problematic with currently available population analysis tools.
Implements a control file wizard to simplify construction and parameterization of a model file. The wizard selects a unique model to run on the basis of user-selected number of compartments, parameterization, dosing factors and parameter constraints.
Displays a real-time plot of the model objective function to allow the user to monitor program progress Program output is displayed and plotted using MS-Excel® and S-Plus®.

System Requirements
Recommended system requirements to run PDx-MC-PEM with other required software:
Intel or AMD pentium processor with 512 MB of memory
Windows 2000, NT 4.0, or XP
SuperVGA or other Windows-compatible graphics card and monitor (minimum resolution of 1024x768)
CD-ROM disk drive
Microsoft mouse or other compatible pointing device
100 MB free disk space for all required software (Interface space = 25 MB)

Required Software
MS Excel 97-2000-XP and Word 97-2000-XP
Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5, or 6.0
Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher.

Recommended Software
S-PLUS 2000, 6.1, 6.2, or 7.0 for Windows

Licensing
PDx-MC-PEM seat licenses are purchased on an annual basis.

The base unit of purchase is 3-seat annual license increments.

PDx-MC-PEM licensees are entitled to the following benefits:
full customer support
automatic updates and upgrades, exclusive of new functionality
advanced notice and priority shipment of new products and version releases