The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry

Front Cover
C. G. Wermuth
Elsevier Science, Jul 16, 2003 - Medical - 768 pages
Most medicinal chemists working in the pharmaceutical industry are organic synthetic chemists with little or no background in medicinal chemistry. These chemists must acquire a good knowledge of medicinal chemistry during their first years in the pharmaceutical/drug discovery industry. This book aims to be their practical handbook - a complete guide to the drug discovery process. The book reviews practical aspects of Medicinal Chemistry, emphasising the daily problems met by the medicinal chemist when dealing with lead discovery/identification methodologies, with structure-activity relationship studies aimed to scale up potency and target selectivity, and when optimising pharmacokinetic and pharmaceutical properties by means of ultimate chemical modifications. This is the second edition of The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry, the first edition being published in February 1996. The new edition is thoroughly revised, with around 30% new material, and refocussed to reflect the recent developments in genomics, proteomics, high throughput screening of compounds and drug solubilisation. An effort has been made to remove the overlap that exists in the previous edition and four new chapters have been introduced. * Written by experts in the field * The first edition of The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry, published in 1996, was nicknamed 'The Bible' by medicinal chemists. * The only available book dealing with the practical aspects of medicinal chemistry, from conception of the molecules through to the production of drugs * An essential practical handbook for the medicinal chemist, working in the pharmaceutical industry, with little or no background in medicinal chemistry-a complete guide to the drug discovery process.

About the author (2003)

Camille-Georges Wermuth PhD, Prof. and Founder of Prestwick Chemical, was Professor of Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France from 1969 to 2002. He became interested in Medicinal Chemistry during his two years of military service in the French Navy at the "Centre d'Etudes Physio-biologiques Appliquées à la Marine" in Toulon. During this time he worked under the supervision of Dr Henri Laborit, the scientist who invented artificial hibernation and discovered chlorpromazine.Professor Wermuths' main research themes focus on the chemistry and the pharmacology of pyridazine derivatives. The 3-aminopyridazine pharmacophore, in particular, allowed him to accede to an impressive variety of biological activities, including antidepressant and anticonvulsant molecules; inhibitors of enzymes such as mono-amine-oxidases, phosphodiesterases and acetylcholinesterase; ligands for neuro-receptors: GABA-A receptor antagonists, serotonine 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, dopaminergic and muscarinic agonists. More recently, in collaboration with the scientists of the Sanofi Company, he developed potent antagonists of the 41 amino-acid neuropeptide CRF (corticotrophin-releasing factor) which regulates the release of ACTH and thus the synthesis of corticoids in the adrenal glands. Professor Wermuth has also, in collaboration with Professor Jean-Charles Schwartz and Doctor Pierre Sokoloff (INSERM, Paris), developed selective ligands of the newly discovered dopamine D3 receptor. After a three-year exploratory phase, this research has led to nanomolar partial agonists which may prove useful in the treatment of the cocaine-withdrawal syndrome.Dr. Wermuth is co-author or editor of several books, the author of over 250 scientific papers and holds nearly 60 patents. Professor Wermuth is also the recipient of the Charles Mentzer Prize of the Société Française de Chimie Thérapeutique, the Léon Velluz Prize of the French Academy of Science, the Prix de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens by the French Academy of Pharmacy and the Nauta Award of the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry for Pharmacochemistry in 2010.

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