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In the field of pharmacology, potency is a measure of drug activity expressed in terms of the amount required to produce an effect of given intensity. A highly potent drug evokes a larger response at low concentrations. It is proportional to affinity and efficacy(=intrinsic activity).

The Emax is the maximum possible effect for the agonist. The concentration of A at which E is 50% of Emax is termed the half maximal effective concentration and is abbreviated [A]50, or more commonly EC50. The term "potency" refers to the [A]50 value. The lower the [A]50, the less the concentration of a drug is required to produce 50% of maximum effect and the higher the potency.