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Published on: August 27, 2019
[Multi-target therapeutics and new drug discovery]
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
Multitarget therapeutics offer improved efficacy and reduced resistance for complex diseases like cancer and diabetes compared to single-target drugs. This review explores their development, clinical use, and the potential of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in this field.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Drug Discovery
- Systems Biology
Context:
- Complex diseases like cancer, diabetes, and inflammation involve multiple molecular targets, making single-target drugs often insufficient.
- Traditional single-target drug therapies can lead to unsatisfactory therapeutic effects and severe toxicity.
- A systems biology approach is crucial for understanding and treating complex diseases.
Purpose:
- To review the characteristics, classification, and development strategies of multitarget therapeutics.
- To explore screening models and current clinical applications of multitarget drugs.
- To investigate the potential of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in multitarget drug development.
Summary:
- Multitarget therapeutics simultaneously regulate multiple nodes in a disease network, offering synergistic effects and reduced resistance.
- This approach is advantageous for treating complex diseases where single-target interventions are inadequate.
- The review covers development strategies, screening methods, existing clinical drugs, and the role of TCM.
Impact:
- Highlights the advantages of multitarget therapeutics over single-target drugs for complex diseases.
- Provides a comprehensive overview of multitarget drug development and clinical applications.
- Suggests TCM as a potential source for novel multitarget therapeutic strategies.
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