Chapter 5 Recent advances in the discovery of drug molecules: trends, scope, and relevance
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Ramesh C. Thakur
Abstract
The use of drugs for medicinal purposes has been practiced by humans since ancient times. In the early days, drugs were derived from animal sources, microbial sources, and mineral sources. As the pharmaceutical industry advanced, the synthesis of synthetic drugs became popular. However, speedy and low-cost drug discovery remains a challenge as drug development expenses are increasing due to longer and more expensive clinical trials. When a drug enters the body, it undergoes a journey from the point of entry to the site of action, which broadly includes the following phases: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). A potential drug needs to have favorable ADME properties. Natural products offer a vast source of leads as they provide a rich supply of therapeutically beneficial compounds. The search for new pharmacologically active agents through screening natural sources such as microbial fermentation and plant extracts has led to the discovery of many clinically beneficial drugs that play an essential role in the treatment of human diseases. In this chapter, we have described the importance of drugs, their sources and types, the journey of a drug from being identified as a lead, the criteria necessary for a lead to become an effective drug, and lastly, the role of natural products as potential leads in drug design for curing a variety of chronic illnesses.
Abstract
The use of drugs for medicinal purposes has been practiced by humans since ancient times. In the early days, drugs were derived from animal sources, microbial sources, and mineral sources. As the pharmaceutical industry advanced, the synthesis of synthetic drugs became popular. However, speedy and low-cost drug discovery remains a challenge as drug development expenses are increasing due to longer and more expensive clinical trials. When a drug enters the body, it undergoes a journey from the point of entry to the site of action, which broadly includes the following phases: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). A potential drug needs to have favorable ADME properties. Natural products offer a vast source of leads as they provide a rich supply of therapeutically beneficial compounds. The search for new pharmacologically active agents through screening natural sources such as microbial fermentation and plant extracts has led to the discovery of many clinically beneficial drugs that play an essential role in the treatment of human diseases. In this chapter, we have described the importance of drugs, their sources and types, the journey of a drug from being identified as a lead, the criteria necessary for a lead to become an effective drug, and lastly, the role of natural products as potential leads in drug design for curing a variety of chronic illnesses.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Contributors VII
- Chapter 1 Introduction to bioinformatics 1
- Chapter 2 Biological databases and bioinformatics tools 13
- Chapter 3 Fundamentals of bioinformatics 41
- Chapter 4 Tools used in sequence alignment 61
- Chapter 5 Recent advances in the discovery of drug molecules: trends, scope, and relevance 83
- Chapter 6 Computer-aided drug design and drug discovery 103
- Chapter 7 Immunoinformatics: computational keys to immune system secrets 123
- Chapter 8 Phylogenetic analysis 141
- Chapter 9 Basic structure of proteins: current paradigms, trends, and perspective 151
- Index 171
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Contributors VII
- Chapter 1 Introduction to bioinformatics 1
- Chapter 2 Biological databases and bioinformatics tools 13
- Chapter 3 Fundamentals of bioinformatics 41
- Chapter 4 Tools used in sequence alignment 61
- Chapter 5 Recent advances in the discovery of drug molecules: trends, scope, and relevance 83
- Chapter 6 Computer-aided drug design and drug discovery 103
- Chapter 7 Immunoinformatics: computational keys to immune system secrets 123
- Chapter 8 Phylogenetic analysis 141
- Chapter 9 Basic structure of proteins: current paradigms, trends, and perspective 151
- Index 171
