Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Sep;72(9):1145-1151.
doi: 10.1111/jphp.13273. Epub 2020 Apr 17.

Drug repositioning: a brief overview

Jean-Pierre Jourdan  1   2 , Ronan Bureau  1 , Christophe Rochais  1 , Patrick Dallemagne  1
Affiliations
Review

Drug repositioning: a brief overview

Jean-Pierre Jourdan et al. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: Drug repositioning, that is, the use of a drug in an indication other than the one for which it was initially marketed, is a growing trend. Its origins lie mainly in the attrition experienced in recent years in the field of new drug discovery.

Key findings: Despite some regulatory and economic challenges, drug repositioning offers many advantages, and a number of recent successes have confirmed both its public health benefits and its commercial value. The first examples of successful drug repositioning mainly came about through serendipity like acetylsalicylic acid, thalidomide, sildenafil or dimethylfumarate.

Conclusion: The history of great-repositioned drugs has given some solutions to various pathologies. Serendipity is not yet useful to find repositioning drugs. Drug repositioning is of growing interest. Nowadays, a more rational approach to the identification of drug candidates for repositioning is possible, especially using data mining.

Keywords: drug; generic; indication; repositioning.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structure of thalidomide.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structure of sildenafil.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Structure of dimethylfumarate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pushpakom S et al. Drug repurposing: progress, challenges and recommendations. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2019; 18: 41–58. - PubMed
    1. Ashburn TT, Thor KB. Drug repositioning: identifying and developing new uses for existing drugs. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2004; 3: 673–683. - PubMed
    1. Langedijk J et al. Drug repositioning and repurposing: terminology and definitions in literature. Drug Discov Today 2015; 20: 1027–1034. - PubMed
    1. Wermuth CG. Selective optimization of side activities: the SOSA approach. Drug Discov Today 2006; 11: 160–164. - PubMed
    1. March‐Vila E et al. On the integration of in silico drug design methods for drug repurposing. Front Pharmacol 2017; 8: 298–298. - PMC - PubMed