The Science and Business of Drug Discovery

Dr. Edward D. Zanders has over 30 years' experience as a scientist and research manager in both a major pharmaceutical company and in smaller biotechnology organizations. He has been responsible for a number of drug discovery programs for diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis and has been involved in research management at a senior level. He has also published extensively on subjects ranging from biochemistry and immunology to computer-aided drug design and the application of online networking to drug discovery. More recently he has written about drug targets in the human genome and a survey of drug discovery for glioblastoma. In 2004 he founded PharmaGuide Ltd, a training and consultancy company that delivers courses on the drug discovery industry to various professional groups including technology transfer executives, recruiters and technical translators. It is through delivering these courses that he has been able to develop his own way of conveying complex information about drug discovery to non scientists, while at the same time being able to communicate with PhD level scientists at their level of expertise.

Introduction.- PART 1: How Drugs are Discovered and Developed in the Pharmaceutical Industry.- Introduction to Drugs and Drug Targets.-   Background to chemistry of small and large molecules.- Laying the foundations- Drug discovery from antiquity to the twenty first century.- Part II-The drug development pipeline - discovery to testing in humans.- Drug discovery pipeline overview.- Target discovery.- Medicinal chemistry.- Biotherapeutics.- Screening for hits.- Process chemistry and formulation.- Preclinical development.- Part III-The drug development pipeline - clinical trials to marketing authorisation.- Clinical trials.- Regulatory affairs and marketing approval.- Diagnostics and personalized medicine.- Putting it All Together: a drug development case history.- Part IV- The Global Pharmaceuticals Business.- Commercial aspects of drug development.- Challenges and responses.- Part V - Professional Interactions with the Drug Discovery Industry.-Professional Interactions with the Drug Discovery Industry: Technology Transfer Executives.- Recruitment Executives.- Pharmaceutical translators and Interpreters.