Understanding drug targets: no such thing as bad news

Abstract

How can small-to-medium pharma and biotech companies enhance the chances of running a successful drug project and maximise the return on a limited number of assets? Having a full appreciation of the safety risks associated with proposed drug targets is a crucial element in understanding the unwanted side-effects that might stop a project in its tracks. Having this information is necessary to complement knowledge about the probable efficacy of a future drug. However, the lack of data-rich insight into drug-target safety is one of the major causes of drug-project failure today. Conducting comprehensive target-safety reviews early in the drug discovery process enables project teams to make the right decisions about which drug targets to take forward.