Drug repurposing in chemical genomics: can we learn from the past to improve the future?

More needs to be done by the private sector to optimize the drug discovery and development pipeline. In addition, significant efforts should also be focused on the understanding of mechanism of diseases, on the characterization of unexplored biochemical pathways and on the validation of new protein targets. Chemical genomics, which uses chemical probes to help understand the complexity of biological systems at the gene and protein levels, has proven in recent years to be an important tool. Experimental and computational chemical genomic screenings have been used by the private sector and recently also by academia and non-profit institutions for drug repurposing or repositioning to find new indications for known drugs. A detailed overview of the current initiatives in drug repurposing, initiated by the major governmental funding agencies around the world is reported. The push towards greater efficiency is encouraging drug repurposing and other techniques in chemical genomics. Finding the best ways to improve translational research and accelerate the regulation of clinical phases means being able to launch safer drugs into the market faster.