Medicinal chemistry is a modern branch of the pioneer subject chemistry.
Medicinal chemistry is primarily associated with drug discovery and design in search
of New Drug Entities (NDEs). There are different sources, such as natural and
synthetic products, animals, marine invertebrates, microorganisms, and recombinant
DNA approaches which have been recognized as potential reservoirs for bioactive
compounds or drugs. Medicinal chemistry has made several technological innovations,
such as computational chemical biology, trial-and-error approach, and bioinformatics,
which have greatly improved and accelerated the efficient and competent drug
development process. Although with hi-tech innovations in medicinal chemistry, there
are several diseases for which treatment is still not available, including the very recent
dreadful occurrence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated from Wuhan
city of China. At present, there is no vaccine or drug to cure it. Moreover, the drug
development process starting from the identification of a new chemical entity (NCE) to
the regulatory approval of NDE is relatively complex, costly, and time-consuming. It
can take 10−15 years or even longer to develop and design an NDE. The present
chapter intends to discuss and emphasize the different drug sources and drug
development processes in medicinal chemistry along with understanding the associated
opportunities and challenges.
Keywords: Animals, Artificial intelligence, Bioinformatics, Computer-aided drug
design, Challenges, Drug design, Drug development, Drug repositioning, High
throughput screening, Medicinal chemistry, New chemical entity, Natural
products, Opportunities, Recombinant DNA technology, Synthesis.
