Sprinkling the pixie dust: reflections on innovation and innovators in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery

Pharmaceutical innovation is in short supply. Many diagnoses have been made and remedies prescribed by those in the industry and those that comment on it. There is much less practical advice for the individual about becoming more innovative or managing innovation at the laboratory level, which is where new medicines are discovered. This article collates and reviews ideas selected from the literature and encountered over many years by medicinal chemists, team leaders and project leaders in a big pharma.