Drug Design and Development

Dr Chris Rostron graduated in Pharmacy from Manchester University and completed a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at Aston University. He gained Chartered Chemist status in 1975. After a period of post-doctoral research he was appointed as a lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry at Liverpool Polytechnic. He is now an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. He was a member of the Academic Pharmacy Group Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and chairman for the past 5 years. He is currently chairman of the Academic Pharmacy Forum and deputy chair of the Education Expert Advisory Panel of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He is an external examiner in Medicinal Chemistry at a number of Schools of Pharmacy both in the UK and abroad. In 2008 he was awarded honorary membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for services to Pharmacy education.

• 1: IntroductionPart 1 Drug targets2: Receptors and signal transduction3: Enzymes as drug targets4: Nucleic acids and protein synthesis as drug targets5: Other drug targetsPart 2 Origins of drug molecules6: Sources of lead compounds7: Drug synthesis8: Optimisation of lead compounds9: Computer-aided drug design10: Combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening11: Biotechnology and biopharmaceuticalsPart 3 Biological aspects of drug development12: Drug metabolism13: Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics14: Toxicity testingPart 4 Preformulation studies15: Solubility and drug development16: Solid state characteristics17: Drug stabilityPart 5 Clinical research18: Clinical research and its regulation19: Design and management of clinical trials

Well written text that guides students through the complex elements of the drug development process. It has a chemistry focus and utilises 'key points' to reinforce the important aspects at regular opportunities.