COMPUTER AIDED DRUG DESIGN: A PARADIGM SHIFT TO RATIONAL DRUG DESIGN (A CASE STUDY OF ALZHEIMER’S DRUG INTERPIRDINE FAILURE)

Drug discovery and design is a tedious and lengthy process which takes enormous time, and when this process reaches it's final stage that is the final stage of clinical trials 90% of the promising drug candidates fail levying a huge financial burden of around $2-3bn on the developer company. The drug failure not only incurs a financial loss to the company, but also smashes the hopes of the patients and families waiting for the successful approval of the drug. The scenario is even complicated when it comes to the drug approval for diseases like Alzheimer's. Computer aided drug design may help in the drug discovery process by slashing the time required for searching the potential drug target through computer aided software and programs. However the key to the success of the drug still lies in the understanding of the mechanism of the cause of disease and prognosis. Computer aided drug design help in the selection and modification of leads out of number of hits available. The present study deals with a case study of Intepridine an ambitious Axovant drug molecule which failed in the final phase of clinical trials and was withdrawn from the market by Axovant the developer pharma company.