Can we rationally design promiscuous drugs?
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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System
Published on: December 11, 2016
Andrew L Hopkins1, Jonathan S Mason, John P Overington
1Pfizer Global Research and Development, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9NJ, UK. andrew.hopkins@pfizer.com
Abstract:
Structure-based drug design is now used widely in modern medicinal chemistry. The application of structural biology to medicinal chemistry has heralded the "rational drug design" vision of discovering exquisitely selective ligands. However, recent advances in post-genomic biology are indicating that polypharmacology may be a necessary trait for the efficacy of many drugs, therefore questioning the "one drug, one target" assumption of current rational drug design. By combining advances in chemoinformatics and structural biology, it might be possible to rationally design the next generation of promiscuous drugs with polypharmacology.
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