This book provides an overview of the drug discovery process from natural sources such as plants and microbes. While technological advances have streamlined the drug discovery process, enhancing the throughput and success rates, the structural features of natural products remain the primary reference for small-molecule drug discovery. Focusing on the drug targets blocked/altered by natural/nature-inspired molecules, it covers how potential drug leads are screened and identified using appropriate assay systems, and the current status of drugs identified using such approaches. State-of-the-art approaches in target identification, assay development, and lead identification have also been discussed in detail. Other topics included are targets and leads in inflammation, cancer, reproductive medicine, cardiovascular and neuromuscular ailments, and infectious diseases as well as the challenges in translating drug leads into clinically viable drugs. This volume serves as a handbook for researchers in phytochemistry and drug discovery, and as a reference for researchers and students of applied biology.

Vital information for discovering and optimizing new drugs "Understanding the data and the experimental details that support it has always been at the heart of good science and the assumption challenging process that leads from good science to drug discovery. This book helps medicinal chemists and pharmacologists to do exactly that in the realm of enzyme inhibitors." -Paul S. Anderson, PhD This publication provides readers with a thorough understanding of enzyme-inhibitor evaluation to assist them in their efforts to discover and optimize novel drug therapies. Key topics such as competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive inhibition, slow binding, tight binding, and the use of Hill coefficients to study reaction stoichiometry are all presented. Examples of key concepts are presented with an emphasis on clinical relevance and practical applications. Targeted to medicinal chemists and pharmacologists, Evaluation of Enzyme Inhibitors in Drug Discovery focuses on the questions that they need to address: * What opportunities for inhibitor interactions with enzyme targets arise from consideration of the catalytic reaction mechanism? * How are inhibitors evaluated for potency, selectivity, and mode of action? * What are the advantages and disadvantages of specific inhibition modalities with respect to efficacy in vivo? * What information do medicinal chemists and pharmacologists need from their biochemistry and enzymology colleagues to effectively pursue lead optimization? Beginning with a discussion of the advantages of enzymes as targets for drug discovery, the publication then explores the reaction mechanisms of enzyme catalysis and the types of interactions that can occur between enzymes and inhibitory molecules that lend themselves to therapeutic use. Next are discussions of mechanistic issues that must be considered when designing enzyme assays for compound library screening and for lead optimization efforts. Finally, the publication delves into special forms of inhibition that are commonly encountered in drug discovery efforts, but can be easily overlooked or misinterpreted. This publication is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in enzymology and its role in drug discovery. Medicinal chemists and pharmacologists can refer to individual chapters as specific issues arise during the course of their ongoing drug discovery efforts.

Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders is the summary of a workshop convened by the IOM Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders to examine opportunities to accelerate early phases of drug development for nervous system drug discovery. Workshop participants discussed challenges in neuroscience research for enabling faster entry of potential treatments into first-in-human trials, explored how new and emerging tools and technologies may improve the efficiency of research, and considered mechanisms to facilitate a more effective and efficient development pipeline. There are several challenges to the current drug development pipeline for nervous system disorders. The fundamental etiology and pathophysiology of many nervous system disorders are unknown and the brain is inaccessible to study, making it difficult to develop accurate models. Patient heterogeneity is high, disease pathology can occur years to decades before becoming clinically apparent, and diagnostic and treatment biomarkers are lacking. In addition, the lack of validated targets, limitations related to the predictive validity of animal models - the extent to which the model predicts clinical efficacy - and regulatory barriers can also impede translation and drug development for nervous system disorders. Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders identifies avenues for moving directly from cellular models to human trials, minimizing the need for animal models to test efficacy, and discusses the potential benefits and risks of such an approach. This report is a timely discussion of opportunities to improve early drug development with a focus toward preclinical trials.

Of the thousands of novel compounds that a drug discovery project team invents and that bind to the therapeutic target, typically only a fraction of these have sufficient ADME/Tox properties to become a drug product. Understanding ADME/Tox is critical for all drug researchers, owing to its increasing importance in advancing high quality candidates to clinical studies and the processes of drug discovery. If the properties are weak, the candidate will have a high risk of failure or be less desirable as a drug product. This book is a tool and resource for scientists engaged in, or preparing for, the selection and optimization process. The authors describe how properties affect in vivo pharmacological activity and impact in vitro assays. Individual drug-like properties are discussed from a practical point of view, such as solubility, permeability and metabolic stability, with regard to fundamental understanding, applications of property data in drug discovery and examples of structural modifications that have achieved improved property performance. The authors also review various methods for the screening (high throughput), diagnosis (medium throughput) and in-depth (low throughput) analysis of drug properties. - Serves as an essential working handbook aimed at scientists and students in medicinal chemistry - Provides practical, step-by-step guidance on property fundamentals, effects, structure-property relationships, and structure modification strategies - Discusses improvements in pharmacokinetics from a practical chemist's standpoint

Fragment-based drug discovery is a rapidly evolving area of research, which has recently seen new applications in areas such as epigenetics, GPCRs and the identification of novel allosteric binding pockets. The first fragment-derived drug was recently approved for the treatment of melanoma. It is hoped that this approval is just the beginning of the many drugs yet to be discovered using this fascinating technique. This book is written from a Chemist's perspective and comprehensively assesses the impact of fragment-based drug discovery on a wide variety of areas of medicinal chemistry. It will prove to be an invaluable resource for medicinal chemists working in academia and industry, as well as anyone interested in novel drug discovery techniques.

Following significant advances in deep learning and related areas interest in artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly grown. In particular, the application of AI in drug discovery provides an opportunity to tackle challenges that previously have been difficult to solve, such as predicting properties, designing molecules and optimising synthetic routes. Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery aims to introduce the reader to AI and machine learning tools and techniques, and to outline specific challenges including designing new molecular structures, synthesis planning and simulation. Providing a wealth of information from leading experts in the field this book is ideal for students, postgraduates and established researchers in both industry and academia.