Translational Medicine
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-1025
ISSN: 2161-1025
Boris Cvek
AcceptedAbstracts: Transl Med
To be successful in �rational drug discovery�, we need to discover biological targets with therapeutic value. However, Keiser et al. have recently demonstrated in their Nature publication that the efficacy of clinically used drugs may require targeting of different targets (off targets) from targets (on targets) they were developed for. Such results suggest that our understanding of diseases may be too simplistic even after successful development of a �magic bullet� attacking the supposed culprit of the disease. From clinical point of view, we have thousands of inexpensive drugs used for decades with negligible negative side effects. These drugs may prove to be effective cures for diseases distinct from those they are used to cure today. We should identify such positive side effects from our decades-long clinical experience with existing drugs and elucidate their mechanism of action in off-target diseases. This approach to drug discovery is known as drug �repurposing� or �repositioning�. In this presentation, I shall demonstrate drug repurposing in the case of an old anti-alcoholic drug disulfiram (Antabuse), which is currently studied in clinical trials for treatment of various cancers.
Boris Cvek has completed his Ph.D at the age of 30 years from Palacky University. He has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals (Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Current Cancer Drug Targets, Journal of Hepatology, Drug Discovery Today).