Target selection in drug discovery

Abstract

Target selection in drug discovery--defined here as the decision to focus on finding an agent with a particular biological action that is anticipated to have therapeutic utility--is influenced by a complex balance of scientific, medical and strategic considerations. In this article, we provide an introduction to the key issues in target selection and discuss the rationale for decision making.

Genome-Environment Interactions That Modulate Aging: Powerful Targets for Drug Discovery

“…3). Together with other biological (e.g., kinases and receptors are often seen as promising drug targets), medical, and strategic considerations already used for target selection in drug discovery (for review, see Knowles and Gromo, 2003), the integrated knowledge of aging-related pathways can help identify suitable targets for drug discovery. In addition, the advent of largescale databases of compounds and drugs, such as DrugBank (Wishart et al, 2008), STITCH (Kuhn et al, 2008), and the Connectivity Map (Lamb et al, 2006), paves the way to cross-linking longevity/CR-associated genes with drug databases to identify candidate molecules for effects on aging.…”

Application of PET/CT in the Development of Novel Anticancer Drugs

“…Over the last decade, advances in our knowledge of tumor biology and chemistry have led to the discovery of numerous potential therapeutic cancer targets, and of lead compounds for therapeutic applications [33,34]. Despite all these new targets, the number of annual new drug approvals remained constant between 1990 and 2004, and the reason for this is likely multifactorial [35].…”

In Vivo mouse imaging and spectroscopy in drug discovery

“…Target selection is influenced by a complex balance of scientific, medical and strategic considerations (11,12). Genetically engineered animals are being increasingly used in this early phase.…”