Drug Discovery .. (Translation Of Science Into Medicines) - Essay Example

Introduction Drug development has become and exceedingly complex process with the time taken for a new drug to enter the market being 8 to 10 years on an average. However, by changing some strategies, in identification of disease targets and designing the right drug, the process of drug development can be expedited and made more cost-effective. Traditional drug development process is based on testing thousands of chemical compounds at several target sites in the body to produce a drug that could be used to treat all patients with a particular disease.

However, with many drug development studies failing to enter clinical practice after spending billions of dollars during their development, the scientific community is taking steps to create a more focused, effective and less expensive methods to develop new drugs (Tho & Graham, 2006). The probability of developing such drugs is becoming increasingly common with advancements in cellular and molecular biology. The field of translational studies involves the use of these latest techniques in drug development prior to their entry in to the clinical trial phase.

These techniques help to provide a comprehensive view of the disease, identify molecular targets and then to develop specific drugs that would act against these targets. These lead compounds can be selected from a vast array of chemicals using screening techniques such as chemical library screening. Other techniques used in translational studies are microarray technique which is used to study the expression of genes and the use of genetically engineered humanized mouse which is useful in studying the biological responses to drugs in vivo.

In addition, toxicology studies reveal potential drug toxicities to major organs such as the liver and the heart. More recent development include the use of computer simulation tools that are helpful in predicting the systemic exposure of the drug within the human body, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies to determine the efficacy of the drugs developed, and the development of biomarkers prior to clinical testing of the drug which could help in understanding disease progression and its prognosis (Yu, 2011).

The major challenge posed by translational research is integration of data obtained from these various technologies and using them appropriately to determine the effectiveness of clinical studies (Tho & Graham, 2006).References1. Tho, L. M. & Graham, K. (2006) Translational Research- A Multidisciplinary Approach. Annals Academy of Medicine. [Online] 35 (6), 441-442. Available from http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/35VolNo6200607/V35N6p441.pdf [Accessed 27th March 2013]2. Yu, D. (2011) Translational Research: current status, challenges and future strategies.

American Journal of Translational Research. [Online] 3 (5), 422-433. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204888/ [Accessed 27th March 2013] ConclusionIn conclusion, translational studies offer great promises for the development of effective drugs at a quicker pace and in a cost-effective manner. The drugs developed in this process target specific proteins or other cellular compounds linked to a particular disease. These targets can be identified using various biological techniques such as microarrays following which the lead components that would effectively react with these targets can be designed (Tho & Graham, 2006).

This is an important step in the drug development process as the effectiveness of the new drug is determined by its ability to provide increased benefits compared to similar drugs in the market. In addition to the benefits the marketing potential and cost factor of the drug also needs to be assessed considering the enormous costs involved in the production of new drugs (Fishburn, 2011). The drug development process further involves subjecting the lead components to drug toxicity and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies that will help to elucidate the candidate drug that can be used for the clinical studies.

Thus the combined use of various advanced techniques in translational research has been found to reduce the time taken to deliver the drug from the laboratories to the patient. One of the important tools used in the process is the biomarkers which are easily measured in the bloodstream and can indicate the effectiveness of the drug developed against the target molecules. As this can be done prior to entry of the drugs in to the clinical trial phase they greatly aid in reducing the investments of large amounts of time and money on drugs which might ultimately fail in the clinical trial phase.

Though translational research offers tremendous opportunities for developing drugs within a lesser time span and in a cost-effective manner, the integration of data gleaned from the various studies poses a serious challenge. This can however be overcome by exchange of knowledge and ideas between the research scientists and clinicians. With this collective effort translational research studies can be effectively used for the development of more new and beneficial drugs (Tho & Graham, 2006). References1.

Fishburn, C. S. (2011) Translational Research: Improving the Efficiency of Drug Development from Bench to Bedside and Back Again. [Online] 9, 1-5. Available from http://www.exponent.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Newsletters/Health%20News_Vol%209_2011.pdf [Accessed 27th March 2013] 2. Tho, L. M. & Graham, K (2006) Translational Research- A Multidisciplinary Approach. Annals Academy of Medicine. [Online] 35 (6), 441-442. Available from http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/35VolNo6200607/V35N6p441.pdf [Accessed 27th March 2013]