Drug Discovery: A History

The process of discovery of medicinal compounds has evolved over millennia, from Neanderthal man’s use of medicinal herbs to the highly–evolved techniques of biotechnology and high–throughput screening used by today’s medicinal chemists. Drug Discovery – A History reviews the full panoply of discovery of therapeutic compounds in use today.
The book is divided into three parts. The first, the Legacy of the Past, gives an overview of medicinal compounds in society, ranging from the earliest use of medicinal herbs through the ancient civilisations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, concluding with an overview of development of life–saving organic compounds in the 20th century. The second part examines the commonest source of the drug – the natural world. Prototypes from vegetable, animal, and microbial sources are described in separate chapters, as are the medicinal compounds prepared from them. The problem of relying on nature as a source of drug prototypes is confronted. Part Three considers synthetic compounds that have served as drug prototypes, the role of serendipity in providing these synthetic prototypes, and a review of compounds derived from them.
Drug Discovery – A History is essential reading for medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, organic chemists, physicians, researchers and anyone with an interest in the development of therapeutic drugs.

Spis treści:
Preface.
Foreword.
Chapter 1. Introduction.
PART 1: LEGACY OF THE PAST.
Chapter 2. The Prehistoric Period.
Chapter 3. Pre–Hellenic Civilisations.
Chapter 4. Greece and Rome.
Chapter 5. The Arab World.
Chapter 6. Herbals.
Chapter 7. Chemical Medecines.
Chapter 8. Systematic Medicine.
PART 2: DRUGS FROM NATURALLY OCCURRING PROTOTYPES.
Section I   Phytochemicals.
Chapter 9.
60; Alkaloids.
Chapter 10.  Non–Alkaloid Plant Products.
Chapter 11.  Plant Product Analogues and Compounds Derived From Them.
Section II  Biochemicals.
Chapter 12.  The Origins Of Hormone Therapy.
Chapter 13.  Neurohormones.
Chapter 14.  Peptide Hormones.
Chapter 15.  Sex Hormones.
Chapter 16.  Adrenal Cortex Hormones.
Chapter 17.  Prostaglandins.
Chapter 18.  Hormone Analogues.
Chapter 19.  Vitamins.
Chapter 20.  Antimetabolites.
Chapter 21.  Blood and Biological Products.
Section III    Drugs from Microorganisms.
Chapter 22.  Antibiotics.
Chapter 23.  Antibiotic Analogues.
Chapter 24.  Pharmacodynamic Agents from Microorganisms.
Chapter 25.  Analogues of Pharmacodynamic Agents from Fungi.
PART 3: SYNTHETIC DRUGS.
Chapter 26.  The First Synthetic Drugs and Their Analogues.
Chapter 27.  Drugs Originating from the Screening of Dyes.
Chapter 28.  Drugs Originating from the Screening of Organic Chemicals.
Chapter 29.  Drugs Discovered through Serendipitous Observations Involving Humans.
Chapter 30.  Drugs Disocvered through Serendipity in the Laboratory.
Chapter 31.  Concluding Remarks.
Index.

Okładka tylna:
The process of discovery of medicinal compounds has evolved over millennia, from Neanderthal man’s use of medicinal herbs to the highly–evolved techniques of biotechnology and high–throughput screening used by today’s medicinal chemists. Drug Discovery – A History reviews the full panoply of discovery of therapeutic compounds in use today.
The book is divided into three parts. The first, the Legacy of the Past, gives an overview of medicinal compounds in society, ranging from the earliest use of medicinal herbs through the ancient civilisations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, concluding with an overview of development of life–saving organic compounds in the 20th century. The second part examines the commonest source of the drug – the natural world. Prototypes from vegetable, animal, and microbial sources are described in separate chapters, as are the medicinal compounds prepared from them. The problem of relying on nature as a source of drug prototypes is confronted. Part Three considers synthetic compounds that have served as drug prototypes, the role of serendipity in providing these synthetic prototypes, and a review of compounds derived from them.
Drug Discovery – A History is essential reading for medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, organic chemists, physicians, researchers and anyone with an interest in the development of therapeutic drugs.