Making space for anti-infective drug discovery

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Drug Discovery
• Medicinal Chemistry

Background:

• The pipeline for novel anti-infective agents is critically low, posing a significant threat to public health.
• Current drug discovery efforts face challenges due to over-reliance on restricted research domains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the limitations in current anti-infective research strategies.
• To advocate for broader exploration across multiple scientific dimensions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of trends in anti-infective drug discovery.
• Review of target space, screening space, and chemical space limitations.

Main Results:

• Discovery efforts are concentrated in narrow regions, limiting novel findings.
• Existing research paradigms fail to adequately explore the full potential of anti-infective development.

Conclusions:

• Expanding exploration across diverse target, screening, and chemical spaces is essential.
• A paradigm shift in research strategy is necessary to revitalize the discovery of effective anti-infective treatments.