PMX-CovEval: A Framework Including a Simulated Pharmacokinetic Database for Covariate Model Building Methods Benchmarking.

The development of new methods for covariate model building (CMB) in population pharmacokinetics (popPK) highlights the need for a standardized evaluation framework for method benchmarking. This data paper introduces PMX-CovEval, a framework including a collection of datasets based on 127 distinct scenarios. These scenarios aim to reflect the diversity of models, available clinical studies, and covariates encountered in real-world applications, while remaining limited enough in number to encourage their practical use. To support the evaluation of standard CMB techniques available on PsN and Monolix, model files for NONMEM and Monolix are provided alongside the datasets. Additionally, empirical Bayes estimates (EBEs) from the true base models are included to facilitate the testing of EBE-based regression approaches. By offering pharmacokinetic (PK) datasets, model files, and EBEs in a unified resource, PMX-CovEval provides a standardized, reproducible framework for evaluation and systematic comparison of CMB strategies in popPK. Initial benchmarking results are also provided.