From A to Z in Drug Discovery and Development

Abstract

The lecture series takes place at the ETH Hönggerberg and covers a variety of major activities involved in drug discovery: selecting drug targets, technologies used in drug discovery, small, medium and large drugs, objectives of the medicinal chemist, assessing drug safety, principles of personalized medicine, designing clinical trials, how intellectual property is protected, as well as others.

Objective

The objective of the course is to gain a global understanding of most of the important phases in the discovery and development of modern synthetic and biological drugs, from the first activities to clinical trials. The lecture is intended for students that have an interest in the area and/or may consider a career working in drug discovery. This lecture course complements knowledge and experience gained in the research project performed by the PhD student.

Content

Thirteen two hour lectures for life-science PhD students and students of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Master, given by experts from the ETH, UZH, USZ and the pharmaceutical industry. Introduction to the modern drug discovery process - Principles of drug pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism - Computer sciences in drug discovery - Drug targets - In vitro methods in drug discovery - Natural products in drug discovery - Medicinal chemistry: Chemical lead selection/optimization - Antibodies and therapeutic proteins: Targets and drugs - In vivo molecular imaging in drug discovery - Drug formulation: Key development consideration, Current new APIs challenges and FDA rising standards - Preclinical safety, adverse drug events and drug-drug interactions - Clinical development steps including trial design - Intellectual property in drug discovery and development

Resources