Drug Discovery and Screening

The heart of drug discovery research is screening technologies. Because screening is so important in identifying and validating targets, the quality of the screening technique used can be a decisive factor in whether or not a new drug makes it to the clinic. To discover chemical compounds that can be manufactured and marketed, a variety of methods are used. Over the last 40 years, the complexity of medication development has skyrocketed. New drugs are developed through drug discovery. Drugs were formerly discovered mostly through discovering active components in traditional medications or by pure accident. Drug discovery nowadays entails hit screening, medicinal chemistry, and hit optimization to limit potential drug side effects (increasing affinity and selectivity). This stage of the medication development process also improves efficacy or potency, metabolic stability (half-life), and oral bioavailability.

In Vitro Models for Drug Screening