Approaches to Identify and Repurpose Drugs for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Shahnaz Alom, Bibhuti Bhusan Kakoti, Rasmita Khatonier, Abhisek Dasgupta · Drug repurposing · 2025
The process of finding cutting-edge uses for approved or rejected/abandoned compounds for use in various ailments is known as drug repositioning or repurposing. By uncovering novel therapeutic uses for already-approved medications, this strategy breathes new life into the conventional drug discovery process by using various strategies such as experimental methods, in silico techniques, and artificial intelligence (AI). While experimental approaches provide reliable but time-intensive results, in silico methods and AI offers efficient alternatives that require further validation. Many studies have demonstrated the success of certain medications as repurposed therapies—for instance, sildenafil to aspirin, thalidomide to adalimumab, and others. Neurodegenerative disorders afflict millions of people globally. The Alzheimer’s Disease Association anticipates that 6.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, based on a 2021 report. It is estimated that 1.2 million Americans may have Parkinson’s disease by 2030. Medications that target a single molecular target help treat neurodegenerative illnesses. On the other hand, the ability of current pharmaceutical methods to definitively change the course of the disease and give patients insufficient and transient advantages is limited. In the present day, drug repositioning-based tactics seem to be highly relevant, time and cost-effective methods for improving medical possibilities for such disorders. For instance, kinase inhibitors, which were created for a variety of cancer reasons, have shown a strong neuroprotective effect in neurodegenerative illnesses. This analysis elaborates on historical and contemporary drug repositioning instances at different phases of therapeutic development, with a particular emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases and the associated risks and concerns, including scientific, regulatory, and financial factors.