International Research Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology

A Short Note on Drug Design and Discovery: Past and present

Abstract

Rhaman Rizvi*

Using a combination of computational, experimental, translational, and clinical models, drug discovery identifies potential new therapeutic entities. Drug discovery is still a lengthy, expensive, difficult, and inefficient process with a high rate of new therapeutic discovery attrition, despite advancements in biotechnology and comprehension of biological systems. The creative process of developing new medications based on knowledge of a biological target is known as drug design. In the past, drugs were discovered by randomly screening higher plants. Opium, senna, belladonna, reserpine, ephedrine, and other crude plant drugs, were used for hundreds of years. The screening of microorganisms that followed the accidental discovery of penicillin led to the development of a large number of antibiotics derived from bacterial and fungal sources. Medical chemists were able to modify these antibiotic prototypes to produce better antibacterial with enhanced therapeutic profiles.

The most fundamental aspect of drug design is the creation of molecules that are similar in charge and shape to the molecular target they bind to. In the age of big data, computer modeling and bioinformatics approaches are used in drug design frequently but not always. In addition to small molecules, computational methods for enhancing the affinity, selectivity, and stability of protein-based therapeutics have also made significant progress. Biopharmaceuticals, particularly therapeutic antibodies, are a class of drugs that are becoming increasingly important. Preclinical research on cell-based and animal models, clinical trials on humans, and regulatory approval for the drug's marketing are all components of drug discovery and development. The identification of screening hits, medicinal chemistry, and optimization of those hits to improve their affinity, selectivity, efficacy/potency, metabolic stability, and oral bioavailability are all components of modern drug discovery. Prior to conducting clinical trials, the process of drug development will begin on a compound that meets all of these requirements once it has been identified.

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