152
Pharmacogenomics and Drug Discovery
The impact of new technologies at various stages of the drug discovery process is
shown schematically in Fig. 5.1. This scheme shows that genomic technologies and
pharmacogenomics play an important role in drug discovery and development.
Analysis of SNP data has already led to the identifi cation of several precandidate
genes potentially useful for drug discovery. Information obtained from study of the
function of genes, their interactions, their role in biological pathways, as well as
their variability among the population can be utilized in drug discovery. An under-
standing of gene expression changes from normal tissues through the disease devel-
opment process among different populations provides possible targets for drug
development.
DISCOVERY TO CLINIC NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Molecular target
identification
Hit/lead
feasibility
Optimized lead
Clinical trial
candidate
Registered
personalized
medicine
Molecular biology
Genomics
Genetics
HTP screening
Combinatorial chemistry
Structural biology
ADME
Gene expression arrays
Proteomics
Molecular imaging
Genotyping
Pharmacogenomics
Pharmacogenetics
Fig. 5.1 Impact of new technologies at various stages of the drug discovery process