Repurposing – second life for drugs

Abstract

Drug repurposing refers to finding new indications for existing drugs. The paradigm shift from traditional drug discovery to drug repurposing is driven by the fact that new drug pipelines are getting dried up because of mounting Research & Development (R&D) costs, long timeline for new drug development, low success rate for new molecular entities, regulatory hurdles coupled with revenue loss from patent expiry and competition from generics. Anaemic drug pipelines along with increasing demand for newer effective, cheaper, safer drugs and unmet medical needs call for new strategies of drug discovery and, drug repurposing seems to be a promising avenue for such endeavours. Drug repurposing strategies have progressed over years from simple serendipitous observations to more complex computational methods in parallel with our ever-growing knowledge on drugs, diseases, protein targets and signalling pathways but still the knowledge is far from complete. Repurposed drugs too have to face many obstacles, although lesser than new drugs, before being successful.

Recent clinical trials with stem cells to slow or reverse normal aging processes

“…Repurposing medicinal agents means finding new therapeutic indications for existing ones ( Ayyar and Subramanian, 2022 ). Repurposing is a cost- and time-effective mechanism that can be applied to develop new SC therapies for aging frailty ( Begley et al, 2021 ).…”

Repurposing of Drug Aspirin in Colon Cancer: Therapeutic Approach

“…This approach can speed up the development of new therapies and enhance patient outcomes by making use of the knowledge and resources that already exist. [9] Drug repurposing alreadyapproved pharmaceuticals has the potential to overcome the shortcomings of the current drug pipeline for specific diseases, resulting in more accessible treatment choices, substitute drugs, and therapies with more tolerable side effects. [10] The difficulties in finding new drugs include rising research and development (R&D) expenses, a protracted drug development process, a poor success rate, and regulatory obstacles.…”

Repurposing approved non-oncology drugs for cancer therapy: a comprehensive review of mechanisms, efficacy, and clinical prospects

“…On the other hand, in-vivo animal models help to assess the possible use of the existing medications for new phenotypic characteristics [ 40 ]. This method led to the discovery that astemizole and its metabolite desmethyl astemizole as effective inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum growth and development [ 41 ].…”