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Preventing Costly Missteps In Drug Development

Date:
November 7, 2006
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
The script for one of the most dreaded scenarios in new drug development reads like this: Company A sinks several hundred million dollars into putting a new drug onto pharmacy shelves. Only then do serious side effects appear, and force withdrawal of that drug from the market. Researchers in India now are reporting development of a new and more accurate method for predicting toxicity in the very early stages of drug development.
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The script for one of the most dreaded scenarios in new drug development reads like this: Company A sinks several hundred million dollars into putting a new drug onto pharmacy shelves. Only then do serious side effects appear, and force withdrawal of that drug from the market.

Researchers in India now are reporting development of a new and more accurate method for predicting toxicity in the very early stages of drug development.

Nagasuma R. Chandra and colleagues describe the computer technique in the November/December issue of the ACS's bi-monthly Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. They also report on its use in predicting with high accuracy one form of toxicity - a heart rhythm disorder that forced withdrawal of the popular antihistamine terfenadine (Seldane).

The technique identifies patterns in the substructure of a drug's molecular structure that can raise red flags over hidden toxicity.

"Such screening saves a lot of time, effort, and money and helps in better planning and focusing of the available resources for drug discovery," they write.


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American Chemical Society. "Preventing Costly Missteps In Drug Development." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2006. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061106095518.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2006, November 7). Preventing Costly Missteps In Drug Development. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061106095518.htm
American Chemical Society. "Preventing Costly Missteps In Drug Development." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061106095518.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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