In this interesting review Michael Hann from GSK gives his take on why it is becoming harder and harder to bring drugs to market. The finger of blame, he suggests, points not just towards regulatory hurdles but to our ideas about the drug discovery process itself.
As well as examining the causes of failure in drug discovery in terms of lead candidate properties, he also takes a look at the behavioural psychology of the medicinal chemist. Hann suggests that the quest for the potency borders on addiction, and that while potency is an important aspect of drug design, it should not necessarily be the overarching goal. His reason – that the search for potency can lead to molecules that are too large and liphophilic to make it to market. He ironically coins the term ‘molecular obesity‘ to describe the risk that this presents to the fitness of lead compounds.
Whether you agree with Hann on the cause of failure or not, the 95% attrition rate of pharma R&D is indisputable; it would appear that drug discovery is in need of a check-up.
Download this though-provoking review today – it’s free to access until April:
Molecular obesity, potency and other addictions in drug discovery
Michael M. Hann
Med. Chem. Commun., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1MD00017A
