Challenges in Drug Design

 Any drug that is taken undergoes a number of chemical reactions in the liver as the body attempts to neutralize foreign substances.  This set of reactions is well characterized, and a great deal of knowledge exists as to how drugs are modified as the body eliminates them.  More importantly, various chemical structures are highly toxic to biological systems, and these are also well characterized.  These constraints must also be taken under consideration as novel drugs are developed. The annual decline in the number of drugs approved for release onto the market in recent years has put pressure on you and your team to refine the drug discovery process and use more effective methods to discover a higher number of successful lead compounds.