Advances in Novel Pharmacotherapeutics and Drug Discovery: Computational, Experimental, Translational, and Clinical Models.

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About this Research Topic

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Background

The increasing incidence of disease, especially in developed and developing countries, demands the evaluation of potential unexplored pharmaceutic resources and releases. The pharmaceutical industry has historically provided innovative therapeutic solutions to different medical conditions, through biological and biosimilar medicines with pharmaceutical potential, which may include monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, growth factors hormones, enzymes, vaccines, or blood products. However, due to pharmaceutical spending accounts for a large share of health spending worldwide, and the increasing demand for chemical diversity in pharmaceutical screening programs, and their benefits in terms of increasing life expectancy and improving quality of life, identifying novel therapeutic drug technology is an exciting approach.

The creation of a pharmaceutical is an incredibly complex process that involves multiple rounds of assays and tests. Drug efficacy and safety considerations are present throughout its development, from screening potential molecules to identifying the lead compound to the last stage of pre-clinical trials before human testing. In silico assays have been gaining ground since, unlike in vivo and in vitro studies, they make it possible to study the connectivity of molecules, obtain topological indices, and accurately predict the physicochemical and biological properties of various groups of compounds before clinical experimentation. And then, in vitro and in vivo studies allow researchers to generate high-quality information on the safety and efficacy of their drug candidates, providing complementary information to the in silico models to help identify other potential drugs through computational models. Therefore, in silico, in vivo, and in vitro assays are supplementary, and they cannot be developed without the other ones. Although in silico models are theoretically described and illustrated, in vivo and in vitro models are necessary to test the predicted models. Therefore, our Research Topic will address drug discovery and the advances in novel pharmacotherapeutics through computational, experimental, translational, and clinical models.

The focus of this Special Issue is the description, identification, development, and characterization of novel bioactive molecules, including but not limited to studies addressing pharmacological properties of new bioactive compounds; novel clinical trial design and conduct; novel therapies for the treatment of chronic diseases; novel molecules with antioxidants, antiapoptotic or antiinflammatory properties; bioactive compounds targeting cell survival and cell signaling pathways; novel protein and non-protein protease inhibitors; pharmacogenetics, genomics and the incorporation of new biomarkers in drug development and clinical practice; bioactive molecules with anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, or antiviral properties, and combinations with immunomodulatory effects.

Keywords: in silico, in vivo, in vitro, pharmaceutics, innovation, nanotechnology

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