Emerging
communicable diseases, such as Ebola and Coronavirus Infection Disease
(COVID-19), and non-communicable diseases related to diet and lifestyle, e.g., diabetes,
have been increasing over the last two decades, having a great negative impact
on the health services, which are already over-stretched. This again has been compounded
by some largely unresolved diseases, such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, which are
common parasitic and infectious diseases in many developing countries. Over
several years, natural medicine has been a dependable alternative in the prevention
and treatment of diseases and has been widely recognized as important for drug
discovery and development. Over the world, traditional medicine has largely depended
on natural products. The structural diversity and biological activity of natural
products have made them a valuable source of drugs and drug leads. Several
active compounds have been isolated from natural products. Among them, some
follow their traditional uses while some others do not. For many years, plant’s
bioactive compounds, otherwise referred to as secondary metabolites, have been
the source of countless compounds and leads for drug discovery. The process of
drug discovery includes the identification of a lead compound, which is then
proposed for drug development. Drug discovery, therefore, encompasses moving
from a screening hit to a compound becoming a therapeutic agent. It is a
process that requires expertise and experience. In modern drug discovery
research, techniques commonly employed include combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput
screening, bioinformatics, proteomics and genomics.
Keywords: Drug development, Drug discovery, Drug leads, Natural products, Plant.
