About this Course

This detailed course on drug discovery involves case studies from various articles on Drug Annotations, allowing students to explore the process it takes for compounds to be selected and optimized for use in medical treatments. The course involves a critical reading and understanding of five specific drug case studies, each taking around two hours to read, alongside supplemental material such within a 15-hour course framework.

Course Description

The course targets several important aspects of pharmacology, including lead selection, optimization, and understanding the dynamics of drug activity. It is designed to be completed autonomously on a study schedule of 15 hours total, and utilizes articles from the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

What Students Will Learn

• Detailed processes involved in the discovery and development of drugs.
• Specific case studies on compounds like AZD4831, MRTX0902, pritelivir, reldesemtiv, and sebetralstat, covering a range of treatments from heart failure to hereditary angioedema.
• Insights into pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and preclinical safety of these compounds.

Prerequisites

Students are expected to have a foundational understanding of organic molecules and their functional groups. No other formal prerequisites are listed, making the course accessible to students with a basic background in these areas.

Course Coverage

• Introduction to drug discovery processes.
• Deep dive into five major case studies on new pharmaceutical compounds.
• Analysis of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in drug development.
• Discussion on the importance of drug safety and evaluation in preclinical tests.

Course Audience

This course is ideal for students in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, and chemistry who are interested in the operational specifics of how drugs are developed and brought to the market. It is also relevant for professionals looking to update their knowledge about recent developments in drug discovery.

Application of Learned Skills

Skills acquired from this course can be applied in professional pharmacy, research and development departments in pharmaceutical companies, academia, and any fields that intersect medicine and chemistry where drug development is relevant.

Syllabus

1. Discovery of AZD4831: A potential treatment for heart failure.
2. Design of MRTX0902: A compound with anti-tumor activity.
3. Preclinical development of pritelivir: For treating acyclovir-resistant herpes simplex virus infections.
4. Discovery of reldesemtiv: Aimed at treating impaired muscle function.
5. Sebetralstat: For on-demand treatment of hereditary angioedema.