Medicinal Chemistry of Leading Drugs

This course will provide an introduction to the drug discovery process using case histories in various therapeutic areas. Following an analysis of the leading prescription drugs and their physicochemical properties which ensure they are ‘drug-like’, case histories will focus on target identification and validation, design and synthesis of relevant molecules, structure activity relationships and a summary of the pharmacokinetic properties of the selected drugs. Therapeutic areas which will be discussed include antihypertensives, anxiolytics and antidepressants, anti-viral agents and antihyperlipidaemia agents and will cover both earlier drugs in the field as well as the most recent advances.

The goal of the class is to provide an introduction to the challenging discipline of medicinal chemistry so that each student can appreciate the role of chemistry in drug discovery. While background training in organic chemistry is helpful, the topics discussed are widely applicable to small molecule drug discovery and are more readily illustrated in the case studies that form the bulk of the course material.