Screening Strategies in Drug Discovery

Target-based screening has been the method of choice in drug discovery for the past two decades, but phenotypic screening is having something of a renaissance. We look at the advantages and applications of both.

There is an ever-growing curiosity in the potential benefit of combining phenotypic and genomic data, in the quest to advance small-molecule drug discovery. Understanding the advantages and challenges of phenotypic screening will help enhance its value as a tool for identifying drug candidates.

This article highlights some of the different screening strategies used during drug discovery. Key advances and challenges associated with the techniques are also discussed.

Over the past decade, fragment-based drug discovery has garnered increasing interest among drug discovery experts and has established itself as a key approach within the field – acting as an alternative starting point for the discovery of high-quality lead candidates. This article discusses the evolution of FBDD, highlights key drug discoveries, and explores the advantages and challenges of harnessing this approach