In Silico Pharmacology: Computer-Aided Methods Could Transform Drug Development
Chandra Shekhar · Chemistry & Biology · 2008
With the rapidly growing and aging world population comes an urgent and rising demand for new and better drugs. Many observers feel that the pharmaceutical industry seems unable to satisfy this demand. Although the industry's investment in research and development has steadily increased, from about $16 billion in 1993 to nearly $60 billion in 2007, the number of new molecules and biologics approved each year has remained almost unchanged. The past few decades have produced a dazzling array of high-throughput life science technologies such as genomics, proteomics, and mass spectrometry that have dramatically increased the number of “druggable” targets.