Small Molecule Drug Discovery: Methods, Molecules and Applications presents the methods used to identify bioactive small molecules, synthetic strategies and techniques to produce novel chemical entities and small molecule libraries, chemoinformatics to characterize and enumerate chemical libraries, and screening methods, including biophysical techniques, virtual screening and phenotypic screening. The second part of the book gives an overview of privileged cyclic small molecules and major classes of natural product-derived small molecules, including carbohydrate-derived compounds, peptides and peptidomimetics, and alkaloid-inspired compounds. The last section comprises an exciting collection of selected case studies on drug discovery enabled by small molecules in the fields of cancer research, CNS diseases and infectious diseases. The discovery of novel molecular entities capable of specific interactions represents a significant challenge in early drug discovery. Small molecules are low molecular weight organic compounds that include natural products and metabolites, as well as drugs and other xenobiotics. When the biological target is well defined and understood, the rational design of small molecule ligands is possible. Alternatively, small molecule libraries are being used for unbiased assays for complex diseases where a target is unknown or multiple factors contribute to a disease pathology. - Outlines modern concepts and synthetic strategies underlying the building of small molecules and their chemical libraries useful for drug discovery - Provides modern biophysical methods to screening small molecule libraries, including high-throughput screening, small molecule microarrays, phenotypic screening and chemical genetics - Presents the most advanced chemoinformatics tools to characterize the structural features of small molecule libraries in terms of chemical diversity and complexity, also including the application of virtual screening approaches - Gives an overview of structural features and classification of natural product-derived small molecules, including carbohydrate derivatives, peptides and peptidomimetics, and alkaloid-inspired small molecules

Introduction to Biological and Small Molecule Drug Research and Development provides, for the first time, an introduction to the science behind successful pharmaceutical research and development programs. The book explains basic principles, then compares and contrasts approaches to both biopharmaceuticals (proteins) and small molecule drugs, presenting an overview of the business and management issues of these approaches. The latter part of the book provides carefully selected real-life case studies illustrating how the theory presented in the first part of the book is actually put into practice. Studies include Herceptin/T-DM1, erythropoietin (Epogen/Eprex/NeoRecormon), anti-HIV protease inhibitor Darunavir, and more. Introduction to Biological and Small Molecule Drug Research and Development is intended for late-stage undergraduates or postgraduates studying chemistry (at the biology interface), biochemistry, medicine, pharmacy, medicine, or allied subjects. The book is also useful in a wide variety of science degree courses, in post-graduate taught material (Masters and PhD), and as basic background reading for scientists in the pharmaceutical industry. - For the first time, the fundamental scientific principles of biopharmaceuticals and small molecule chemotherapeutics are discussed side-by-side at a basic level - Edited by three senior scientists with over 100 years of experience in drug research who have compiled the best scientific comparison of small molecule and biopharmaceuticals approaches to new drugs - Illustrated with key examples of important drugs that exemplify the basic principles of pharmaceutical drug research and development

This book discusses 120 types of natural, small-molecule drugs derived from plants. They are grouped into 7 parts according their clinical uses, such as drugs for cardiovascular diseases, for metabolic diseases, for neuropsychiatric diseases, for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, anti-tumor drugs, and drugs for parasites and bacterial infection. Each chapter systematically summarizes one drug, including its physicochemical properties, sources, pharmacological effects and clinical applications. To help readers understand the drug better, the research and pharmacological activity for each drug is also described, which serves as a salutary lesson for future drug development. Written by frontline researchers, teachers and clinicians working in field of pharmacy and pharmacology it provides an overview of natural, small-molecule drugs derived from plants for researchers in the field.

This comprehensive encyclopedic reference provides rapid access to focused information on topics of cancer research for clinicians, research scientists and advanced students. Given the overwhelming success of the first edition, which appeared in 2001, and fast development in the different fields of cancer research, it has been decided to publish a second fully revised and expanded edition. With an A-Z format of over 7,000 entries, more than 1,000 contributing authors provide a complete reference to cancer. The merging of different basic and clinical scientific disciplines towards the common goal of fighting cancer makes such a comprehensive reference source all the more timely.

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.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in almost every human disease phenotype, without much, if any, therapeutic consequence foremost exemplified by the failure of the so-called anti-oxidants. This book is a game changer for the field and many clinical areas such as cardiology and neurology. The term ‘oxidative stress’ is abandoned and replaced with a systems medicine and network pharmacology-based mechanistic approach to disease. The ROS-related drugs discussed here target either ROS- forming or ROS -modifying enzymes for which there is strong clinical evidence. In addition, ROS targets are included as they jointly participate in causal mechanisms of disease. This approach is transforming the ROS field and represents a breakthrough in redox medicine indicating a path to patient benefit. In the coming years more targets and drugs may be discovered, but the approach will remain the same and this book will thus become, and for many years remain, the leading reference for ROSopathies and their treatment by network pharmacology. Chapter "Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Stimulators and Activators" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.