Drug Discovery News and Research

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The drug discovery process begins with recognizing a disease or clinical condition in which there is a lack of adequate medical treatment. Once a potential drug has been identified, pre-clinical research can begin. This process includes several stages; the first of which involves identifying and validating the prospective drug’s target through assay development, high throughput screening, hit identification and finally, lead optimization. Once the pre-clinical process is complete, the newly synthesized drug candidate is selected for future clinical development.

A simple screening process may improve mAb-based drug development

By screening potential monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based drugs solely based on a measure of their colloidal stability, scientists may be able to weed out mAbs that do not respond efficiently in solution early in the drug discovery process, according to a new study.

3 Aug 2020

A new cell-based gene therapy approach to correct hemophilia A

In a new study from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) researchers have developed an optimized cellular platform for delivering Factor 8 to better treat patients with hemophilia A.

29 Jul 2020

New technology can speed up drug development for tuberculosis

A novel technology that integrates machine learning and high-throughput imaging could accelerate drug discovery to fight tuberculosis (TB).

27 Jul 2020

Reactivating divergent signaling pathways to enhance cancer treatment

In order for cancer to form in the human body, normal cells must acquire multiple mutations before they develop toward the disease. It was previously believed that these mutations acted in concert in the progression of cancer.

23 Jul 2020

Quality of lab procedures has a big impact on discovery of effective drugs

In their quest to find new drugs to treat deadly diseases, scientists study millions of molecules at high speed at the same time. Often it is enzymes that are investigated as targets in these 'high-throughput' screenings.

From University of Bath 22 Jul 2020

Study shows how cells respond to nutrient deprivation

The idea of the cell as a city is a common introduction to biology, conjuring depictions of the cell's organelles as power plants, factories, roads, libraries, warehouses and more.

From Harvard Medical School 17 Jul 2020

uEXPLORER TB-PET/CT scanner captures complete picture of systemic inflammatory arthritis

For the first time, physicians can examine the systemic burden of inflammatory arthritis simultaneously across all joints and organ systems, using the high-sensitivity, high-resolution uEXPLORER total-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (TB-PET/CT) scanner.

14 Jul 2020

Researchers discover promising drug candidate for treatment of brain disorders

Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) discovered a novel chemical compound, which has the potential to became a new drug for the treatment of core symptoms of brain disorders like Down syndrome and autism.

13 Jul 2020

New drug enables the immune system to attack ovarian cancer, TGen study shows

A drug known as SP-2577 could help enable the body's own immune system to attack ovarian cancer, according to a study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope.

13 Jul 2020

X-ray method helps track protein folding

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have employed an X-ray technique to monitor the mechanism of protein folding.

13 Jul 2020

Structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein offers clues about the virus' evolution

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have characterized the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as its most similar relative in a bat coronavirus. The structures provide clues about how the spike evolved and could help inform vaccine design.

10 Jul 2020

BU researchers develop new way to better understand human cell communication

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.

7 Jul 2020

Sanford Burnham Prebys announces research agreement with Lilly to characterize COVID-19 antibodies

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute today announced a research agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to characterize Lilly's next-generation anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

Existing drugs could disrupt SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells

An international team of researchers has analyzed how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, hijacks the proteins in its target cells.

30 Jun 2020

Study may help design effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

Neurons in the brains of such people are being depleted gradually and inevitably, resulting in the characteristic loss of cognitive function and memory.

29 Jun 2020

University of Kentucky collaborates with Atomwise to explore potential COVID-19 therapies

The University of Kentucky announced a research collaboration with Atomwise, an industry leader in using artificial intelligence (AI) for small molecule discovery, to explore potential COVID-19 therapies.

24 Jun 2020

Novel precision medicine targets cancer's DNA defenses

A new precision medicine targeting cancer's ability to repair its DNA has shown promising results in the first clinical trial of the drug class.

23 Jun 2020

NJIT researchers develop new efficient method to quantify therapeutic proteins

Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology in collaboration with Ohio University and Merck & Co. Inc. recently developed a new efficient method for targeted protein analysis -- one they say could speed up processes for disease testing, drug discovery and vaccine development.

18 Jun 2020

Solving A Parkinson's Disease Puzzle Through Protein Design

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in everything and the receptors have been a longstanding target for treating disorders like Parkinson's disease.

17 Jun 2020

New protein design could help in drug discovery for Parkinson’s disease

The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a vital role in everything, starting from motor control to higher cognitive functions, arousal, motivation, sexual gratification, and reinforcement.

12 Jun 2020