Drug Discovery cycle for non-pharmacy-based Scholars
Program Overview
The drug Discovery cycle consists of basic stages that must be completed for successful lead discovery or hit identification. Adopting a limited lead discovery protocol will close numerous paths of innovation and close the doors to dealing with difficulties. The robust flow chart of drug discovery is a critical factor in attaining the project objectives.
Bioinformatics
Structure of the target protein; 3D structure, active site, activity regulation, isoforms, annotation score, sequence length.
Cheminformatics
Chemical structure of the ligand; database search, Physicochemical properties, statistical analysis of PK parameters, structure similarity search, enumeration of a chemical library, evolutionary chemical library, fuzzy scores.
Virtual Screening of a Designed Library
Molecular docking of the evolved chemical library and filtration of diverse hits.
Chemical Accessibility
Chemical accessibility is one of the important perspectives that should be considered in the precise choice of hits. How feasible to synthesize a compound is a simple-direct meaning of the chemical accessibility.
Structure Validation
It is the most challenging and costly section in the cycle. It requires knowledgeable and skillful scientists to manage the data released and judge the outliers. Directions should be set quickly for structure development and optimization.
Lead Optimization
Lead optimization is a crucial stage in drug development, where promising chemical compounds (leads) are refined to enhance their properties and increase the likelihood of becoming a successful drug candidate. Lead optimization involves an iterative process of designing, synthesizing, and testing new analogs of the lead compound, guided by data from biological assays, computational models, and medicinal chemistry principles. It involves key aspects:
- Potency: Increasing the compound’s effectiveness in interacting with the biological target (e.g., a protein) to elicit the desired therapeutic effect.
- Selectivity: Enhancing the compound’s ability to interact with the intended target while minimizing interactions with other biological molecules, reducing side effects.
- Pharmacokinetics: Optimizing how the compound is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted by the body to ensure it reaches the target site in the right concentration for an appropriate duration.
- Safety: Reducing toxic effects and off-target activities to improve the compound’s safety profile.
- Chemical Stability: Ensuring the compound remains stable during physiological conditions and storage.
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Duration: 10 weeks.
30-40 hours to complete.
- Level: Basic introductory and Advanced applications.
- Prerequisite: Basics of Organic Chemistry and Biology background is mandatory. Computer Science is preferred but not mandatory.
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Fee: 10,000 EGP
Discount Policy for Group Registration!
- Program timeframe:
- Registration
- Be contacted to confirm the participation
- Scheduling for the program sessions
- Supplied with the technical support to download the software required for the program