XX50225: Techniques for drug discovery
 Academic Year: | 2019/0 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology |
| Credits: | 18 [equivalent to 36 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 360 |
| Level: | Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary:
| CW 50%, EX-TH 50%* |
| Assessment Detail: |
*Assessment updated due to Covid-19 disruptions |
| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Description:
| Aims: To provide an overview of the process of drug discovery and development, providing core knowledge of the techniques and considerations involved in the identification and validation of a drug target, the discovery and optimisation of small molecule drugs and biological therapeutics, drug delivery technology and the translation of a drug into a medicine. Learning Outcomes: After studying this unit, students should be able to: * Discuss critically the strategic, scientific and operational issues to be considered prior to launching a drug discovery programme * Distinguish the differing drug discovery approaches that may be associated with specific therapeutic areas and organisations * Compare the molecular and clinical techniques that may be utilised in the identification of a drug target * Compare the cellular and in vivo techniques that may be required for the validation of a drug target * Explain how enzyme and biological screening platforms are developed and applied in drug discovery * Explain the methodologies involved in the identification and optimisation of small-molecule drugs, and how they are applied * Describe the techniques associated with the identification and optimisation of therapeutic peptides and proteins * Justify the importance of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in drug development and successful drug therapy. * Explain and contrast the concepts of bioavailability, bioequivalence, and generic drugs * Distinguish the pre-clinical and clinical phases involved in drug development. Skills: Numeracy (F, A), Problem solving (T, F, A), Scientific writing (F, A), Independent working (F), Oral communication (F), Group working (F) Content: * Understanding the concept of disease and the role of pharmacology * Historical overview of the approaches to drug discovery (natural products, synthetic chemistry, recombinant protein, recombinant antibodies, nonpharmacological therapeutics) * Strategic, scientific and operational issues to be considered prior to launching a drug discovery programme * Overview on therapeutic areas and differing drug discovery approaches * Target Identification: Disease models (cell, animal and clinical samples) Molecular Techniques (genetics/genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics, lipidomics) Clinical Techniques (epidemiology, physiology, imaging) * Target Validation: Cell models (antisense, siRNAs and CRISPR/CRISPRi/CRISPRa) Tissue Models Animal Models (disease models and transgenic/knockout mouse) * Overview of drug identification and optimisation * Development of enzyme and/or biological screening platforms * Small molecule identification and optimisation: High throughput screening Structure-based design and molecular modelling * Recombinant peptides/proteins identification and optimisation * Recombinant antibodies identification and optimisation * Pre-clinical drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (DPKM) * Pre-clinical safety and toxicology |
| Programme availability: |
XX50225 is Compulsory on the following programmes:Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology
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