Drug discovery and development

Summary

This course discusses the molecular basis of diseases and how drugs work. Concepts and processes employed in today's drug discovery and development are covered. The first part of the course focuses on small molecule drugs and the second one on biotherapeutics.

Content

Keywords

pharmacological chemistry, drug discovery, biotherapeutics, biologics, small molecule drugs

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

Basic knowledge in chemistry and biochemistry

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Describe molecular basis of diseases
• Describe small molecule drugs and biotherapeutics and their mechanism of action
• Recall drug development strategies that are discussed as case studies

Teaching methods

Each week, one of the above described topics is presented in a lecture (45 minutes) and a research paper is discussed (45 minutes).

Expected student activities

The students read each week a research paper and answer questions that are provided (at home). The students participate in the discussion of the paper in the lecture.

Assessment methods

Written exam

Resources

Notes/Handbook

The following materials are provided on Moodle:

·       PPT presentation of the lectures and the case studies

·       Research papers

·       Questions about research papers

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/CH-317