Phenotype-first screening for the identification of novel drug targets

Abstract

Modern drug discovery is predominantly a target-driven process, where success is intricately linked to the selection of an appropriate molecular target. Ideally, there is conclusive functional evidence that a selected target is disease-relevant and, furthermore, suitable for drug development. Phenotype-first screening is a highly attractive approach for target identification because it offers the unique possibility to analyse entire genomes in an unbiased fashion for disease-related phenotypes. Various studies have demonstrated that phenotype-first screening can be successfully applied to the identification of drug targets, thus establishing this approach as a valuable tool for future target discovery efforts.