+44-20-4587-4809Drug and Drug Targets In COVID19
The term "biological target" is frequently used in pharmaceutical research to describe the native protein in the body whose activity is modified by a drug resulting in a specific effect, which may be a desirable therapeutic effect or an unwanted adverse effect. In this context, the biological target is often referred to as a drug target. The most common drug targets of currently marketed drugs include:
proteins
G protein-coupled receptors
nucleic acids
Drug target identification
Identifying the biological origin of a disease, and the potential targets for intervention, is the first step in the discovery of a medicine using the reverse pharmacology approach. Potential drug targets are not necessarily disease causing but must by definition be disease modifying. An alternative means of identifying new drug targets is forward pharmacology based on phenotypic screening to identify "orphan" ligands whose targets are subsequently identified through target deconvolution.