Nanotechnology in Drug Development

Abstract

Nanotechnology plays a key role in the development of new drugs, from start to end through target identification, lead identification, lead optimization, and synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) as well. Nanodevices and nanoparticles have been extensively utilized in discovering new drug targets in illness sites or blood and for swift screening of interactions of molecular compounds with therapeutic targets for lead identification/optimization. In addition, API development employing nanoparticle catalysts to expedite the drug development process and investigating pure nanomaterials as drugs are two further areas on which the pharmaceutical industry is concentrating. This chapter will go into great detail on how nanotechnology is used in the drug development process, starting with the identification of drug targets, moving on to the identification and optimization of leads, and concluding with the synthesis of API.<br>