The book "Drug Selectivity - An Evolving Concept in Medicinal Chemistry" provides a current overview and comprehensive compilation for medicinal chemists that discusses the effects of aiming for multiple targets on the entire drug development process. The result is a broad survey of current and future strategies for drug selectivity in medicinal chemistry with theoretical but also practical aspects. Different strategies are presented and evaluated, such as various design approaches, merged multiple ligands, discovery technologies and a broad range of successful examples of unselective drugs taken from all major disease areas. With its wide-ranging view of an emerging new paradigm in drug development, this handbook is of prime importance for every medicinal and pharmaceutical chemist.

Written by world-renowned experts, this is the first book to gather together knowledge and experiences of the rational discovery of multi-target drugs. It describes the current state of the art, the achievements, and the challenges of the field and lessons learned by researchers.

Drug development can be time-consuming and expensive. Recent estimates suggest that, on average, it takes 10 years and at least $1 billion to bring a drug to market. Given the time and expense of developing drugs de novo, pharmaceutical companies have become increasingly interested in finding new uses for existing drugs - a process referred to as drug repurposing or repositioning. Historically, drug repurposing has been largely an unintentional, serendipitous process that took place when a drug was found to have an offtarget effect or a previously unrecognized on-target effect that could be used for identifying a new indication. Perhaps the most recognizable example of such a successful repositioning effort is sildenafil. Originally developed as an anti-hypertensive, sildenafil, marketed as Viagra and under other trade names, has been repurposed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Viagra generated more than $2 billion worldwide in 2012 and has recently been studied for the treatment of heart failure. Given the widespread interest in drug repurposing, the Roundtable on Translating Genomic-Based Research for Health of the Institute of Medicine hosted a workshop on June 24, 2013, in Washington, DC, to assess the current landscape of drug repurposing activities in industry, academia, and government. Stakeholders, including government officials, pharmaceutical company representatives, academic researchers, regulators, funders, and patients, were invited to present their perspectives and to participate in workshop discussions. Drug Repurposing and Repositioning is the summary of that workshop. This report examines enabling tools and technology for drug repurposing; evaluates the business models and economic incentives for pursuing a repurposing approach; and discusses how genomic and genetic research could be positioned to better enable a drug repurposing paradigm.

An essential outline of the main facets of polypharmacology in drug discovery research Extending drug discovery opportunities beyond the "one drug, one target" philosophy, a polypharmacological approach to the treatment of complex diseases is emerging as a hot topic in both industry and academic research. Polypharmacology in Drug Discovery presents an overview of the various facets of polypharmacology and how it can be applied as an innovative concept for developing medicines for treating bacterial infections, epilepsy, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and more. Filled with a collection of instructive case studies that reinforce the material and illuminate the subject, this practical guide: Covers the two-sided nature of polypharmacology—its contribution to adverse drug reactions and its benefit in certain therapeutic drug classes Addresses the important topic of polypharmacology in drug discovery, a subject that has not been thoroughly covered outside of scattered journal articles Overviews state-of-the-art approaches and developments to help readers understand concepts and issues related to polypharmacology Fosters interdisciplinary drug discovery research by embracing computational, synthetic, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological and clinical aspects of polypharmacology A clear road map for helping readers successfully navigate around the problems involved with promiscuous ligands and targets, Polypharmacology in Drug Discovery provides real examples, in-depth explanations and discussions, and detailed reviews and opinions to spark inspiration for new drug discovery projects.

Drug repurposing is defined as identifying new pharmacological indications from old, existing, failed, investigational, already marketed, or FDA-approved drugs and prodrugs, and applying these new uses in the treatment of diseases other than the drug’s original intended therapeutic use. The application of computational techniques in discovery research not only helps in the development of drugs from leads or existing drug molecules but can also be useful for the repurposing of existing drug candidates. This new volume presents exciting recent advances in drug repurposing and computational approaches for the discovery and development of drugs against certain difficult-to-treat and life-threatening diseases. With contributions from a global team of experts (academicians, scientists, and researchers), it explores the sophisticated tools and techniques of drug repurposing and computational drug discovery. It delivers valuable information on computational techniques, tools, and databases being utilized for drug repurposing and for identifying the uses of existing drug candidates on different emerging or deadly diseases. Drug repurposing and computational approaches addressed in the book target the discovery and development of drugs for microbial infections (bacterial, fungal, viral, COVID-19), parasitic diseases and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), malignant diseases (cancer), inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and aging and neurological (CNS) disorders. In addition, the challenges and regulatory issues encountered in drug repurposing and computational drug discovery programs are looked at, offering perspectives for future directions.

Drug repurposing is the development of existing drugs for new uses: given that 9 in 10 drugs that enter drug development are never marketed and therefore represent wasted effort, it is an attractive as well as inherently more efficient process. Three repurposed drugs can be brought to market for the same cost as one new chemical entity; and they can also be identified more quickly, an important benefit for patients whose diseases are progressing faster than therapeutic innovation. But repurposing also requires a fresh look at configuring pharmaceutical R&D, considering clinical, regulatory and patent issues much earlier than would otherwise be the case; a holistic gedanken experiment almost needs to be undertaken at the very start of any repurposing development. In addition to new ways of thinking, the discovery of repurposing opportunities can take advantage of artificial intelligence techniques to match the perfect new use for an existing drug. And while repurposing of medicines has been in the mind of every doctor since Hypocrates, modern clinical practice will simply have to adapt to new repurposing techniques in an age where the number of known diseases is increasing much faster than the healthcare dollars available.