Drug Discovery Diaries – 1

Let us continue from our last yap session. So how are drugs discovered nowadays?

The drug discovery consists of four main steps.

1. Target identification – finding the culprit.
   Every disease has something going wrong inside the body. A protein misbehaving, a receptor overreacting, an ion channel not doing its job or something which is not normal.
   Scientists start by identifying the “culprit” – a molecule that plays a key role in the disease. This becomes the target for the drug.
2. Target validation – Are we chasing the right culprit?
   Just because something is involved in a disease doesn’t mean fixing it will actually help. So researchers test whether modifying this target truly improves the condition.
   If it does- Great!. We are on the right track.
   If it doesn’t – Back to square one.
3. Lead discovery – The search.
   Scientists screen thousands of compounds to find the ones that can interact with the target. A couple ones fail, while a few show promise.
   These promising compounds are called a lead compounds. A major starting point for developing a drug.
4. Lead optimization – good to better.
   Leads are like rough drafts. They need a lot of editing. So scientists tweak their structures to make them more effective, safer and stable in the body while evaluating multiple parameters. This stage involves repeated cycles of modification and testing , requiring strong knowledge of both biology and chemistry.
   The goal? – To create the promising lead in to a compound that is good enough to be tested in humans. (After pre-clinical testing including animal studies – of course)

To continue in my next yap…..