According to piece in Fierce Biotech today, researchers at Stanford University have come up with a new way to try to match drugs coming off patent with new diseases and indications. They likened their matching algorithms to online dating services, i.e. matching a drug's mode of action with disease symptoms it would be likely to affect.
Preliminary studies identified two old drugs that had positive attributes in animals, including an ulcer drug that might have effects against lung cancer. These type of studies would fit into the NIH's new translational medicine intiative to get new drugs to market faster.
Drug-discovery investigators generally responded warmly to the research. Certainly, finding a new use for an old drug has the potential to save money and get to market much quicker - especially if the Feds will support the program's funding. It could be the perfect date.
Posted by Bruce Lehr Aug 18th 2011.
More on this from the PharmTech Talk blog
http://blog.pharmtech.com/2011/08/22/meet-the-new-drugs-same-as-the-old-drugs/
Posted by: bigredbruce | 08/22/2011 at 03:38 PM