Network-based technologies for early drug discovery

Although the traditional drug discovery approach has led to the development of many successful drugs, the attrition rates remain high. Recent advances in systems-oriented approaches (systems-biology and/or pharmacology) and 'omics technologies has led to a plethora of new computational tools that promise to enable a more-informed and successful implementation of the reductionist, one drug for one target for one disease, approach. These tools, based on biomolecular pathways and interaction networks, offer a systematic approach to unravel the mechanism(s) of a disease and link them to the chemical space and network footprint of a drug. Drug discovery can draw upon this holistic approach to identify the most-promising targets and compounds during the early phases of development.