DRUG DISCOVERY

In the fields of medicine, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered. Modern drug discovery involves the identification of screening hits, medical chemistry and optimization of those hits to increase the affinity, selectivity (to reduce the potential of side effects), efficacy/potency, metabolic stability (to increase the half-life), and oral biovailability. Discovering drugs may be a commercial success, or a public health success, involves a complex interaction between investors, industry, academia, patent laws, regulatory exclusivity, marketing and the need to balance secrecy with communication.

Jobs directly related to this degree include:

Research Biologist

Drug Research Compliance officer