Drug discovery is a complex and multi-faceted process. Here's a fairly comprehensive list of the terms used in drug discovery, from initial discovery through preclinical testing and clinical trials.Â
1. Target Identification: The first step in drug discovery where the disease-causing element in the body (usually a protein or pathway) is identified.
2. Target Validation: The process of confirming that a proposed target is indeed involved in the disease and could be manipulated for therapeutic benefit.
3. High Throughput Screening (HTS): A method for scientific experimentation especially used in drug discovery and relevant to the fields of biology and chemistry.
4. Hit Identification: The process of identifying molecules that affect the target in a desirable way.
5. Lead Identification: The process of identifying the most promising 'hit' compounds to take forward for more intensive study.
6. Lead Optimization: The process of modifying the structure of lead compounds to improve their potency, selectivity, and safety.
7. Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME): The description of the pharmacokinetics of a drug. ADME characteristics greatly influence a drug's safety and efficacy.
8. Pharmacodynamics (PD): The study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs on the body or on microorganisms or parasites within or on the body and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect.
9. Pharmacokinetics (PK): The study of how a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted from the body.
10. Preclinical Development: The stage of research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) can begin, and during which important feasibility, iterative testing, and drug safety data are collected.
11. In Vitro Studies: Studies performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context, such as in a test tube or petri dish.
12. In Vivo Studies: Studies performed in the living organism, often in animal models before human trials.
13. Toxicology Studies: Studies to identify potential risks and side effects of a drug candidate.
14. Investigational New Drug (IND) Application: A request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational drug to humans.
15. Clinical Trials Phase I, II, III, and IV: The various stages of trials on human subjects, each with different goals and numbers of subjects. Phase I focuses on safety, Phase II on efficacy and side effects, Phase III on confirmation of effectiveness and monitoring of side effects in larger groups, and Phase IV on post-marketing surveillance.
16. New Drug Application (NDA): The vehicle through which drug sponsors formally propose that the FDA approve a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing in the U.S.
17. Bioavailability: The proportion of a drug which enters the circulation when introduced into the body and so is able to have an active effect.
18. Bioequivalence: The property wherein two drugs with identical active ingredients or two different dosage forms of the same drug possess similar bioavailability and produce the same effect.
19. Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR): The relationship between the chemical or 3D structure of a molecule and its biological activity.
20. Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR): A method for predicting the physicochemical properties, biological activity, and toxicity of chemicals based on their structures.
21. Biologics: A category of drugs that includes a wide range of products such as vaccines, blood and blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapy, tissues, and proteins.
22. Biomarker: A measurable indicator of the severity or presence of some disease state or some other physiological state of an organism.
23. Medicinal Chemistry: The discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacology involved with designing, synthesizing, and developing pharmaceutical drugs.
24. Pharmaceutical Formulation: The process in which different chemical substances, including the active drug, are combined to produce a final medicinal product.
25. Combinatorial Chemistry: A method used in drug discovery to create a large number of compounds quickly for screening.
These terms should provide a good overview of the drug discovery process, but keep in mind that this is a complex and rapidly evolving field, with new technologies and methodologies emerging on a regular basis.