PHC 311, Drug Discovery & Development

Course Description:

This course is designed to give the 1st year pharmacy student an overview of the process that involves the discovery of new drugs. The course covers the drug discovery (DD) process from the beginning through the final stages of clinical trials. The various stages of identifying and selecting a target, selecting and optimizing a lead compound, carrying out of in-vitro and in-vivo testing to determine biological activity and or toxicity, evaluating acceptable "drug-like" properties, as well as certain concepts such as selecting of targets and leads based on pharmacogenetic and epidemiological perspectives. The course will focus on the role of the pharmacist, as a scientist involved in discovering and developing new drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Textbooks:

Williams, D.A. and Lemeke, T.L., Foye’s Principle of Medicinal Chemistry, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA., 5th Edition, 2002.