Abstract Recent developments have advanced the field of drug biotechnology so that it is now feasible to design molecules, such as the Australian anti-influenza drug Relenza, which have a very specific and novel biological activity. The design of molecules in this way has the advantage that it can produce drugs with lower incidence of side effects and toxicity. Celebrex, a new anti-arthritis drug, is a perfect example of how designer drugs can be developed to have fewer side effects compared with current therapies. Even more exciting is the possibility of linking drug design technology to genomic studies. This means that as we learn more about the molecules of life and how they interact, function and malfunction, we can begin to develop new medicines for diseases that are currently untreatable.
Most drugs are relatively small chemicals.
For example, the target of aspirin, an enzyme called COX, is a large biological molecule comprising a few thousand atoms. Ideally, drugs should have a very specific biological effect, or else side effects may result. The process of developing a drug from a chemical on the laboratory bench to a product on the pharmacy shelves is called the drug pipeline. The pipeline has many stages and a candidate drug can fail the process at any one of these. The later stages of the pipeline are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, to ensure that drugs making it to market are safe and effective.