Small Molecules Evolve
Small molecule drugs make up most of the drugs we take conveniently as pills, including painkillers like ibuprofen (Advil), antibiotics like penicillin and amoxicillin, or cholesterol-lowering drugs like atorvastatin (Lipitor). The biotechnology revolution allowed scientists to create drugs through genetic engineering and related biological processes, creating a new category of drugs known as “biologics.” These…
A Cross-Functional Mindset in DMPK
Dian Su’s journey from chemistry and proteomics to the DMPK of drug conjugates Following a different path comes naturally to Dian Su, Senior Director of DMPK at Bicycle Therapeutics. From a childhood in a small village in China’s northeast Shandong province to her work examining the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)…
How Recent Drug Pricing Laws Impact Drug Discovery (H.R. 5376)
A significant section of the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) recently signed into law was targeted at lowering public spending on prescription drugs (Subtitle B: Prescription Drug Pricing Reform). The new laws include Medicare negotiation and includes a provision that disproportionately affects small molecules which have triggered reactions throughout the industry from the extreme of…
From AZ to VC: Tracing Our Industry’s Recent Evolution Through A Career
Our Drug Hunter subscribers at Curie.Bio recently made headlines with the launch of their new >$500M venture fund with a new model for early-stage biotech financing to help founders launch therapeutics companies. Curie.Bio intends to act not only as an investor, but also as a day-to-day operating partner to help founders choose targets, design experiments,…
Not Your Grandparents’ Drugs: How Approved Drugs Have Evolved Since the 70’s
We recently explored how the lipophilicity (logP) of drugs has changed over time and found that, on average, drugs have become more lipophilic through the decades, primarily attributable to the industry’s move away from natural products. Despite this shift, it is clear from a broad qualitative comparison of structures from past decades to today that…
Computational Partnership in Small Molecule Drug Discovery
The real magic happens when chemists can integrate computational models into their assay cascades, thanks to trust in their predictions. To get there, grounding computational predictions in physics and experimental reality makes all the difference. In this article, Abba E. Leffler, Ph.D. from Schrödinger tells us about: How to Make Computational Tools Work For You…