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August 19, 2024
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Understanding Drug Discovery and Development
Instructors: Erland Stevens, PhD
4,010 already enrolled
Included with
(130 reviews)
Recommended experience
Intermediate level
Advanced undergraduate coursework or working knowledge in biological sciences & organic chemistry recommended.
(130 reviews)
Recommended experience
Intermediate level
Advanced undergraduate coursework or working knowledge in biological sciences & organic chemistry recommended.
You will learn the science and considerations behind the complex, challenging, and iterative hunt for novel new medicines to address the unmet medical needs of patients. Preclinical topics such as drug targets, molecular libraries, screening, assays, drug optimization, structure-activity relationships, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and formulation will be covered.
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In collaboration with Davidson College, this specialization is intended for a graduate level audience with a life sciences background seeking to learn about preclinical drug discovery.
Preclinical drug discovery is a complex, challenging, and iterative hunt for novel new medicines to address the unmet medical needs of patients. The science and considerations behind this endeavor are covered in this online specialization composed of 6 courses, which begins with an Introduction to Drug Hunting, followed by in-depth discussions of Targets, Assays and Screening, Lead Selection and Optimization, Pharmacokinetics, Preclinical Safety, and Preformulation. The specialization is self-paced, with each course comprised of short 5-minute videos covering selected topics, accompanied by additional readings and problems designed to reinforce and deepen understanding of those topics.
Applied Learning Project
Learners will develop their knowledge of preclinical drug discovery through a combination of short 5-minute videos covering selected topics, accompanied by additional readings and problems designed to reinforce and deepen understanding of those topics.
The different steps of preclinical drug discovery and clinical trials; introduction to the subject of drug hunting.
Promising compounds used in the hunt for novel drugs. Types of assays & methods used to screen molecule libraries. Methods for hit validation.
This course begins with a review of routes of administration, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, & excretion), and the use of in vivo drug concentration-time data to determine key pharmacokinetic parameters, like volume of distribution, half-life and clearance. The course then emphasizes in vitro assays that allow rapid prediction of ADME and PK properties for evaluation of new compounds. The later stages of the course focus on how drug discovery teams study this PK/PD relationship, as well as dose size and frequency predictions which ultimately assist in selection of a compound for advancement into the clinic.
This course is suitable for life scientists, clinicians, and individuals from fields that support drug discovery (e.g., patents, finance, licensing, etc.) interested in learning more about the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector. Advanced undergraduate coursework or practical familiarity/working knowledge in biological sciences and organic chemistry is recommended.
Patient safety is of paramount importance for any drug discovery program. This course looks at some of the lessons learned which have influenced how promising molecules are currently evaluated for safety risks. In vitro and in vivo toxicology and safety studies are discussed, why they are performed, and how the data they provide guide a safety risk assessment, including determining a therapeutic index or safety window for a drug. Finally, the course will look at how safety data guide human dose selection, and some of the studies performed during clinical development.
Target audience: This course is suitable for life scientists, clinicians, and individuals from fields that support drug discovery (e.g., patents, finance, licensing, etc.) interested in learning more about the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector. Advanced undergraduate coursework or practical familiarity/working knowledge in biological sciences and organic chemistry is recommended.
This course covers the stages of drug discovery in which promising compounds (leads) are identified, their optimal and suboptimal characteristics determined, and the suboptimal characteristics optimized to create a candidate suitable for the clinic. The course is built around a case study on the discovery of an antimalarial therapy. Assays useful for screening new compounds are outlined, examples of selection criteria for leads are discussed - such as potency, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics - and the structure activity relationships that contribute to the optimization of a lead series are considered. The phenotypic approach used by the antimalarial program will be briefly contrasted with a target-based program on a different target.
Target audience: This course is suitable for life scientists, clinicians, and individuals from fields that support drug discovery (e.g., patents, finance, licensing, etc.) interested in learning more about the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector. Advanced undergraduate coursework or practical familiarity/working knowledge in biological sciences and organic chemistry is recommended.
In this course we will focus on how active compounds are developed into a formulation suitable for dosing in animal studies and early human clinical trials. Factors such as the route of administration, enhancing the solubility of the drug substance, the crystalline form of the drug substance, drug substance vs. drug product, storage requirements, and how special requirements of the patient population play a role in the design of an ideal formulation will be covered. Finally, some of the differences encountered when formulating a biologic vs. a small molecule will be discussed.
Target audience: This course is suitable for life scientists, clinicians, and individuals from fields that support drug discovery (e.g., patents, finance, licensing, etc.) interested in learning more about the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector. Advanced undergraduate coursework or practical familiarity/working knowledge in biological sciences and organic chemistry is recommended.
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This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.