THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DRUG DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT

Drug discovery and development encompasses the entire process of identifying a drug,
from discovery to market launch. Drug design discovery and development is
multifaceted,high risk,high-octane, and most likely highly illuminating and rewarding
endeavor.The current study sought to highlight.Current drug discovery and development
practices and the future Several databases,including Scopus and Web of Science.Science
and PubMed were used to conduct literature searches.Natural products are still the
preferred starting point.Recent adavances in analytical and computer technology have
opened up new possibilities for processing comples natural products and repurposing
their structures (Cheng et al., 2020).

The discovery and identification of new drug entities and medicines is an innovative
practice.The procedure is carried out using knowledge and experience in a variety of
disciplines such as drug pharmacology,chemistry, and biology.The term “discovery and
development” refers to the entire process of identifying a drug from its discovery phase
until its market launch.The procedure could consist of a series of steps involving a
powerful drug identification via combinatorial screening chemical libraries,natural
products or pharmaceuticals designing a comprehensive understanding of drug
targeting.The stage of development entails a variety of animal and microbial studies as
well as animal and human clinical trials converge on final regulatory approval from
federal organisations that are concerned (Kiriiri et al., 2020).

The goal of drug discovery is to deliver one or more clinical candidate molecules,each of
which has sufficient evidence of biologic activity at a disease-relevant target as well as
sufficient safety and drug-like properties to be tested in humans
Development are important for a variety of reasons,including the emergence of new
diseases,the development of drug resistance,and our growing understanding of health
conditions,which allows for the treatment of previously untreatable conditions.In some
cases,a previously known drug can be used for a new purpose rather than developing a
new one.Antibiotics are one of the most well known and widely used drugs for treating
bacterial and fungal infections.Only three new antibiotic classes have been established
since 1990,despite the fact that many derivatives of existing drugs have been developed
(Mohs & Greig, 2017).

For different metabolisms,new drugs are developed to treat different types of people,due
to the different ways they are metabolized.Some drugs affect males and females
differently because of their different biology.Some drugs are not suitable for both adults
and young children,so different drugs may be required to treat children.Another reason
being low-cost drugs for countries with less wealth who cannot afford the more
sophisticated drugs.A disease may not be eliminated unless it is eliminated everywhere,so
less expensive drugs are often necessary to treat people in poorer countries,to prevent the
reintroduction of diseases from other countries (Wang & Lai, 2021). Pharmaceutical
companies are often reluctant to lower the prices of their products as they invested
millions or billions in the development of these drugs,so cheaper alternatives may be
required.One of the biggest reasons that development of drugs is crucial is drug
resistance.The growth of over resistance is caused in part by the overuse of existing
drugs.It is also true that some doctors prescribe antibiotics for viral infections when they
will be ineffective and some patients demand antibiotics wrongly.Antibiotics are
sometimes used in animal husbandry indiscriminately which leads to the development of
resistance.Drugs often kill 99.9% of the bacteria or fungus causing the infection.It is
possible that the 0.01% who survive are resistant to the drug used and will now multiply
and become the dominant form of that species and infect other people or the original host.
The ultimate goal of drug development is to bring a new compound with proven
therapeutic effect to the market (Ashiq et al., 2021).

New drugs must be developed so that we can maintain our chosen lifestyles while
avoiding disease-related misery and death.To maintain our health,we need to be able to
fight against well-known and increasing health conditions,such as cardiovascular disease
which kills seventeen million people in a year..Drug development benefits human
health,and the number of newly launched drugs is inversely related to
mortality.According to the data collected from 36 countries in 2015,cancer disability-
adjusted life-years (DALYS) for 19 types of cancer have decreased by nearly 23% as a
result of new drugs introduced between 1982 and 2010.Because of new drug
development between 2011 and 2015,estimated mortality decreased significantly between
2015 and 2020.Drug development is thus critical to public health promotion (Cheng et
al., 2020).
.
The approval process required before drugs can be one of the barriers to new drug
development.Traditionally,this is a lenthgthy process that can take up to ten years and
costs around two and a half billion dollars in the United States.Just one drug requires a
massive investment in terms of technologies, the cost of developing a drug may be
substantial (Mohs & Greig, 2017).
REFERENCES

Ashiq, K., Qayyum, M., Parveen, R., & Bajwa, M. (2021). Drug discovery and
development : current practices and future Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences , The
Superior College , Superior University Lahore , Pakistan. September, 30–39.
https://doi.org/10.12692/ijb/19.3.31-39

Cheng, F., Ma, Y., Uzzi, B., & Loscalzo, J. (2020). Importance of scientific collaboration
in contemporary drug discovery and development : a detailed network analysis. 1–9.

Kiriiri, G. K., Njogu, P. M., & Mwangi, A. N. (2020). Exploring different approaches to
improve the success of drug discovery and development projects : a review. 9.

Mohs, R. C., & Greig, N. H. (2017). Drug discovery and development : Role of basic
biological research. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical
Interventions, 3(4), 651–657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2017.10.005

Wang, J., & Lai, W. (2021). News coverage of drug development : implications for the
conveyance of health information. 1–10.