Cited by 920Computational Drug Discovery MethodsMachine Learning in Materials ScienceChemical Synthesis and Analysis

Automating drug discovery

Schneider, Gisbert·2018·Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

Abstract

Small-molecule drug discovery can be viewed as a challenging multidimensional problem in which various characteristics of compounds - including efficacy, pharmacokinetics and safety - need to be optimized in parallel to provide drug candidates. Recent advances in areas such as microfluidics-assisted chemical synthesis and biological testing, as well as artificial intelligence systems that improve a design hypothesis through feedback analysis, are now providing a basis for the introduction of greater automation into aspects of this process. This could potentially accelerate time frames for compound discovery and optimization and enable more effective searches of chemical space. However, such approaches also raise considerable conceptual, technical and organizational challenges, as well as scepticism about the current hype around them. This article aims to identify the approaches and technologies that could be implemented robustly by medicinal chemists in the near future and to critically analyse the opportunities and challenges for their more widespread application.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nrd.2017.232

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Authors
Schneider, G.
Affiliations
ETH Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Schneider, Gisbert
Venue
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
Published
2017-12-15
Volume
17
Issue
2
Pages
97-113
ISSN
  • 1474-1776 (ISSN-L)
  • 1474-1784
OpenAlex
W2775714759
Cited by
910
References
252
Citations by year
2026: 167 · 2025: 154 · 2024: 119 · 2023: 89 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 92 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
5.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • AstraZeneca
  • OPO-Stiftung
  • European Commission (HORIZON2020, 675555, 676434)
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (157190, 159737)
  • Horizon 2020 (676434)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Computational Drug Discovery Methods
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Machine Learning in Materials Science
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Chemical Synthesis and Analysis
Keywords
small molecule drug discovery, artificial intelligence in drug design, compound optimization, chemical space exploration, medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, drug safety
MeSH terms
Animals, Drug Industry, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Humans, Drug Discovery

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