This section contains case studies, industry highlights, minireviews, and other articles for drug discovery professionals.
RECENT DRUG HUNTER ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Sisunatovir, Oral Ph. II RSV Candidate, to Be Acquired by Pfizer
It’s always nice to see a small molecule making the front page of the news, especially when it’s a Molecule of the Month from last year! Pfizer and ReViral announced an agreement for Pfizer to acquire ReViral for up to $525 million, including milestones (amount upfront not disclosed). ReViral’s lead molecule sisunatovir, is an oral,…
In Context: First-Time Disclosures of ACS Spring 2022
The ACS first disclosures from ACS Spring 2022 MEDI section included six molecules, summarized below. Together with industry veteran Jesse Keicher, we put these molecules in context, exploring what makes each molecule interesting to drug hunters beyond what was shared at the conference. The first disclosures were: AMG 650, Amgen’s kinesin family member 18A (KIF18A)…
Small Molecule of the Year – 2021
We asked the global drug discovery community to nominate and vote on their favorite molecule from 2021, and the results are in. The 2021 choice for Drug Hunter’s Small Molecule of the Year is Pfizer’s CoV-2 Mpro Inhibitor, PF-07321332 (nirmatrelvir, Paxlovid). Published in a November 2021 Science article, the molecule was praised for its impressive…
Mitapivat, a First-in-Class Allosteric Pyruvate Kinase Activator
The FDA recently approved Agios’ Pyrukynd (mitapivat, AG-348), a first-in-class, allosteric activator of pyruvate kinase (PK), for treatment of hemolytic anemia in adults with the genetic condition, pyruvate kinase deficiency. The drug is given orally with a starting dose of 5 mg BID, titrating up to 50 mg BID depending on hemoglobin (Hb) levels. Pyruvate…
“It Always Seems Impossible Until It’s Done”
with Dr. Romyr Dominique Contrary to popular belief, pharma is incredibly competitive, with dozens of companies often working on the same hot target at the same time. What sets pharma apart from the outside world though, is how deeply we respect our competitors and other scientists when they succeed at cracking technical challenges. Here, Dr.…
FDA Novel Drug Approvals – Jan. 2022
together with Dr. Naveed Yasin, Dr. Jen Huen, and Dr. Adrian Parodi There were four novel drugs approved by the FDA in January 2022 (2 small molecules, 2 large molecules). The novel January 2022 new drug approvals appear below in this Drug Hunter minireview: Novel small molecule FDA drug approvals of January 2022: Quviviq (daridorexant):…