Modern Medicinal Chemistry

3 units

The focus of this course in an overview of Modern Medicinal Chemistry from the selection of a therapeutic target through the FDA-approval process. Each aspect will be exemplified by examples of drugs currently in clinical use, or in late-stage development. One aspect of particular interest to synthetic chemists is the underlying development chemistry that often determines the competitive success of a product. Topics to be covered include peptidomimetic HIV protease inhibitors, topoisomerase inhibitors, HMGCoA-reductase inhibitors (Lipitor, etc.), receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (Gleevac, etc.), a synthetic mimetic of superoxide dismutase, and several others depending on the interests of the participants. Students will be responsible for presenting to the class the synthetic routes developed for the discovery and commercialization of these drugs focusing on development chemistry. Prerequisite: Chem 262 or permission of the instructor.