Medicinal Biochemistry

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course will expose students to the rapidly evolving ways in which molecular biochemistry intersects with medicinal chemistry, with a focus on the ongoing biopharmaceutical revolution. How Chemistry and Biochemistry intersect in modern Pharmacology will be studied. More specifically, our goal will be to better understand the development, production, and clinical application of such biopharmaceuticals as monoclonal antibodies (“mAbs”), DNA or RNA – based vaccines, cytokines, growth factors, and other major biopharmaceutical classes, using the language and concepts of classical medicinal chemistry. How these differ from “biologics” used in the clinic will be discussed. Long-standing theories and concepts will be explored and challenged, for example, why the rules of Lipinski do not necessarily apply to biopharmaceuticals and why this is important, whereas they still apply for small molecules such as Imatinib that are among the most exciting new pharmaceuticals produced to date based on a detailed understanding of target molecular biochemistry.