Health and Medicine Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century (2004) / Chapter Skim
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2. New Methods in Synthesis and Development for Pharmaceuticals
2. New Methods in Synthesis and Development for Pharmaceuticals
Pages 13-20
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From page 13... ...
These new tools, along with others such as high-throughput screening, combinatorial chemistry, and micro array technology have required signif~cant capital and human resource investments before the capture of clear value in productivity. Subsequently, costs and risk in drug discovery increase before it can be established that the new tools and technologies improve the efficiency of the process.
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From page 14... ...
selection of a therapeutic target, (2) linkage of the chosen target to a defined biological mechanism of drug action, (3)
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From page 15... ...
Because outcome studies can be difficult to design and expensive to execute, it is important to carefully research this issue as part of the initial project proposal. BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS The explosion of information regarding biological pathways, such as gene and protein expression, modulation and regulation, and cell signaling, raises the challenge of target selection to critical importance, given the immense effort required to discover and develop compounds.
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From page 16... ...
Serotonin agonists with receptor subtype specificity have provided effective treatment for migraine headache. Improved therapy for depression and schizophrenia also has been derived from agents that have receptor subtype profiles that differ from earlier drugs of these types.
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From page 17... ...
Structural analysis of target macromolecules using protein X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy has already had a positive impact on drug design. Powerful computational programs and modeling techniques have enhanced the utility of these methods.
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From page 18... ...
The development of tissue chips comprising polymer-supported human cells that retain the functions normally associated with intact organs such as the liver would allow drug development to proceed with human tissue rather than resorting to animal models. Several advantages of such a development are immediately
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From page 19... ...
The first step would involve chips consisting of a single cell type, but normal tissue often contains several different cell types and ultimately one would want to construct complex matrixes containing all the cells found in the tissue in a proper spatial arrangement. Several hurdles must be overcome to develop this technology.
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From page 20... ...
In a similar vein, collaborations across small biotech companies and universities may become much more the norm for cross-discipline integration. Current alliance structures are not efficient; new approaches are needed.
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