ACS Fall 2023 First Disclosures

DILI is a leading cause of acute liver failure, accounting for half of these cases and often resulting in drug withdrawals. Understanding and managing DILI risk as a medicinal chemist involves exploring the intricate interplay among properties and structural features. In this article, we provide a medicinal chemist's perspective on the current understanding of DILI mechanisms, highlight cutting-edge assay developments for a holistic assessment, and discuss strategies for predicting DILI risks.

The team reviews hundreds of compounds from thousands of papers, press releases, and other sources each month to select candidates for Molecules of the Month. Here we have compiled a table of >60 additional molecules that were of interest in December 2023 along with highlights from some of the team’s favorites in the article.

There has been substantial interest in the development of screening methods capable of surveying a wider sample of chemical space and larger numbers of compounds. Over the past two decades, DEL technology has evolved into a broadly utilized and validated platform in drug discovery, yielding diverse hits for a wide range of biologically relevant targets. Read the full review for a historical and technical overview of DEL technology, including how libraries are prepared and screened, a comparison to other HTS methods, and examples of successful applications in drug discovery.

Imagine having access to an almost infinite amount of chemical space that could include the next blockbuster medicine waiting to be discovered. The challenge for medicinal chemists is balancing the exploration of this vast space in early drug discovery with the need for focused exploration in later stages. This article explores the genesis of a new AI-powered drug design tool, AIDDISON™ from MilliporeSigma, and how this platform can benefit discovery teams around the world.

The Drug Hunter team is piloting a new series highlighting notable disclosures in the patent literature to provide our readers a timely and scientifically flavorful synopsis of therapeutic targets being actively pursued, emerging industry breakthroughs, and fascinating chemical matter. Here we highlight 12 patents published in December 2023 that piqued our interest, and compiled a searchable table comprising key information from more than 180 additional patents of potential interest to drug hunters. If you have any suggestions on how to make this more useful, please let us know!