Predictive methods as a powerful tool in drug discovery

A development of a new drug is an extremely complex process, with average costs over $900 million and a time span upto 15 years. Regulatory hurdles are progressively higher, costs are escalating and the competition is ever tougher. All these factors drive pharmaceutical companies to shorten the Research & Development (R&D) process as much as possible. Consequently, methodologies for increasing productivity of the R&D processes become more and more important. One of them, a linear drug discovery paradigm starts from numerous genes and ends with prospectivedrugs. It consists of four inter-related building blocks that together provide a whole new platform that drives a focus on R&D efforts and commercial capabilities, on use of product and capability partnerships, on provision of customer solutions (prevention, prediction and follow-up, not just treatment), and finally on preference of organizations based on a business unit model instead of a functional one. Companies are to find a combination of these building blocks that best fits their strengths, improves returns and minimizes involved risks. Predictive methodology, together with other prediction approaches applied in drug discovery, is powerful tool that is quickly becoming more and more important, if not essential, in modern drug development. In this review, a brief description of new trends, as well as new challenges of today's drug discovery is presented from the insider perspective.