Drug Discovery News and Research

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The drug discovery process begins with recognizing a disease or clinical condition in which there is a lack of adequate medical treatment. Once a potential drug has been identified, pre-clinical research can begin. This process includes several stages; the first of which involves identifying and validating the prospective drug’s target through assay development, high throughput screening, hit identification and finally, lead optimization. Once the pre-clinical process is complete, the newly synthesized drug candidate is selected for future clinical development.

Giving children access to drug clinical trials is crucial, clofarabine approval shows

The accelerated approval of the drug clofarabine to treat relapsed or refractory pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) demonstrates the importance of offering children rapid access to new treatments through clinical trials, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Refractory or relapsed ALL is a disease that resists treatment.

2 May 2005

Bugs in the gut could help doctors develop individualised healthcare

The success of personalised healthcare hinges on a better understanding of how microbes in the gut interact with different medicines report scientists from Imperial College London and Astra Zeneca.

13 Apr 2005

Study may lead to a better understanding of how antidepressants like Prozac work

According to results published in today's issue of the journal Neuron, a study in mice proposes that dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter systems in the brain occasionally get their signals crossed, causing delays in stabilizing mood.

7 Apr 2005

Genomics and proteomics to increase the efficiency of drug discovery and development

While the United Sates is still the world leader, Europe is having a good deal of success in the field of advanced genomics and proteomics research. Significant government funding together with the presence of large pharmaceutical companies has made Europe a major competitor in the efforts to deploy genomics and proteomics as vital tools in drug discovery and development.

5 Apr 2005

New ion channel drug targets to emerge in pharmaceutical discovery

The identification and structural determination of channel proteins, and their validation as therapeutic targets using high throughput cell based and multiplexed screening technologies, have furnished an increase role for ion channel targets in the drug discovery and development pipelines in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

4 Apr 2005

Sea floor may yield disease cures

On Monday, the Harbor Branch drug discovery group will begin a 2-week expedition to explore the Straits of Florida in search of organisms that produce chemicals with the potential to cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

3 Apr 2005

Ranbaxy files additional Anti-Retroviral (ARV) agents with the World Health Organization

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL) announced today that the Company has made two additional filings of its Anti-Retroviral (ARV) agents with the World Health Organization (WHO) for its approval, taking the total number of Ranbaxy ARV filings submitted with the WHO to five.

23 Mar 2005

Smart nanocarrier technology will cancer treatment

A ‘smart’ nanocarrier technology developed by a team of researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) is set to vastly improve the way cancer patients are treated.

22 Mar 2005

Major milestone in identifying and creating a register of genes involved in multiple sclerosis

For the first time in this disease area, researchers at the SGI have identified 80 genes involved in the inflammatory and neuro-degenerative pathways of MS, based on a 40% genome scan comparing the genetic profile of a total of 1,800 people with MS and healthy individuals in different populations.

17 Mar 2005

New cancer drug looks promising

Dr. E. Premkumar Reddy from Temple University School of Medicine and colleagues, in a study examining the effects of Plk1 inhibitor ON01910 on tumor growth in several animal models have found that a small molecule inhibitor of polo-like kinase1 (Plk1) could lead to a new avenue for targeted cancer therapy.

14 Mar 2005

Nano-enabled drug discovery solutions will generate revenues of $1.3 billion in 2009

According to a new report by NanoMarkets, an industry consultancy based here, nano-enabled drug discovery solutions will generate revenues of $1.3 billion in 2009 and grow to $2.5 billion in 2012.

8 Mar 2005

2.5 million euros helps fight liver cancer

The overall project will concentrate on three areas where Europe is in a relatively favourable position compared with the US - human tissue resources, ribonucleic acid (RNA) technology, and structural proteomics. However, the initial focus will be on the development of genomics targets in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver cancer as it is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide and has a very poor prognosis.

22 Feb 2005

American suicide rates have dropped steadily since the introduction of serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs

Challenging recent claims linking antidepressant use to suicidal behavior, a new UCLA study shows that American suicide rates have dropped steadily since the introduction of Prozac and other serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs.

3 Feb 2005

Why some men develop aggressive prostate cancer that becomes resistant to hormone-withdrawal therapy

Researchers found that certain mutations in a protein called the androgen receptor cause advanced and invasive prostate cancer when put into otherwise healthy mice. The androgen receptor's normal function is to control growth of the prostate gland in response to cues from male hormones called androgens, which have long been thought to stimulate prostate tumors.

26 Jan 2005

Home HIV-AIDS test could be a reality within two years

A portable device similar to a home pregnancy test that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles as well as biological agents such as Ricin and anthrax, is the goal of a new joint research project

17 Jan 2005

Molecular Devices introduces fatty acid uptake assay to target metabolic diseases

Molecular Devices Corporation announced the launch of its QBT Fatty Acid Uptake Assay Kit, the first assay kit that addresses the need for a single-step, homogenous in vitro assay for fatty acid uptake for use in high- throughput screening and metabolic disease research.

12 Jan 2005

New portable infectious disease detector

A portable device similar to today's home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles, as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university/industry research project.

10 Jan 2005

Potential new therapies for cancer and bleeding disorders

Lexicon Genetics announced today that it has advanced two of its drug discovery programs into preclinical development in preparation for investigational new drug (IND) applications.

10 Jan 2005

Is open source the answer for finding cures for tropical diseases?

Only about 1% of newly developed drugs are for tropical diseases, such as African sleeping sickness and dengue fever. While patent incentives have driven commercial pharmaceutical companies to make Western health care the envy of the world, the commercial model only works if companies can sell enough patented products to cover their R&D costs and produce profits for shareholders.

28 Dec 2004

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug discovery companies are increasingly turning their attention to cell-based assays

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug discovery companies are increasingly turning their attention to cell-based assays, as these assays offer a more accurate representation of the real-life cell model than the traditional enzyme- or antibody-based assays.

13 Dec 2004