The pharmaceutical industry, with its well structured research, is now an area where the in vivo pharmacologist has a well recognised role. After a period of relative loss of interest related to the belief of the 'all in vitro', the impressive development of molecular biology, genomics, proteomics, and now metabonomics has surprisingly revived the absolute necessity for the pharmaceutical industry, within its R&D (research and development) teams, to give the responsibility to in vivo pharmacologists for the following: validating new targets; phenotyping transgenic animals; determining the activity and potency of molecules, as well as exposing their potential unwanted pharmacological activities; contributing to the characterisation of pharmacokinetics and metabolism; participating in numerous other research and development activities such as the preparation of submission of files to authorities.