Chapter 5 - Drug Targets, Target identification, Validation and Screening

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry has been extremely successful in its search for new and improved medicines. For most new drugs, molecular biology technology will be used, directly or indirectly, at all stages in the drug discovery process. This chapter illustrates the various uses of modern molecular biological technologies in the various stages of the drug discovery process with an emphasis on drug target identification, validation, and screening. Some of these applications are well established, others are just now being applied, and still more applications will be conceived of and brought to fruition in the future. The essence of pharmaceutical research is innovative thought and competition. The increased target resolution and well-defined mechanism of action in drug development today not only offer the potential of more specific and more efficacious drugs, but also increase the chances of measuring efficacy in the clinic. The development of modern molecular biology has already had an enormous impact on the process of drug discovery and its influence will certainly increase in the future. The power of these new technologies such as RNAi will facilitate the discovery and development of novel pharmaceuticals and shorten the time and cost from idea to market.