Physicochemical concepts in drug design
H. Van De Waterbeemd · Birkhäuser Basel eBooks · 2003
A successful drug candidate has the right attributes to reach and bind its molecular target and has the desired duration of action. Binding to the target can be optimised by designing the proper three-dimensional arrangement of functional groups. Each chemical entity also has, through its structure, physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties. These are generally related to processes such as dissolution, oral absorption, uptake into the brain, plasma protein binding, distribution, and metabolism. Therefore fine-tuning of the physicochemical properties has an important place in lead optimization.