Abstract
Classical medicinal chemistry, that is molecular modifications of existing bioactive compounds, leading to me-too drugs with value added and often to me-too drugs which will never reach the market or to drugs in another pharmacological field than that originally intended, will be with us for a long time to come. The ultimate goal, however, is of course rational or at least semi-rational drug design. In some instances this goal seems to have already been reached as in the case of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and H2 antagonists. In the (near) future results from the steady progress in molecular biology in combination with computer-assisted drug modelling — possibly coupled with artificial intelligence techniques — will help the medicinal chemist in his efforts to attain this goal.
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This review is based on a lecture given at the Symposium “Medicinal chemistry in the Netherlands: past, present and future,” 12 December 1990, Weesp, the Netherlands.
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Soudijn, W. The role of medicinal chemistry in drug research. Pharmaceutisch Weekblad Scientific Edition 13, 161–166 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957740
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957740