Meet the editor

Mithun Rudrapal, Ph.D., FIC, FICS, CChem (India), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology & Research (Deemed to be University), Guntur, India. Dr. Rudrapal has been actively engaged in teaching and researching the field of pharmaceutical and allied sciences for more than 13 years. He has more than 100

publications in peer-reviewed international journals to his credit and has filed a number of Indian and international patents. In addition, Dr. Rudrapal is the author of a dozen published or forthcoming books and works in the areas of medicinal chemistry, computer-aided drug design (CADD), drug repurposing, phytochemistry, herbal drugs, and nanophytotherapeutics.

### Contents



Preface

Drug repurposing, also known as drug repositioning, drug reprofiling, or therapeutic switching, is the process of identifying new pharmacological indications from old, existing, investigational, or FDA-approved drugs, as well as applying newly developed drugs to the treatment of diseases other than the drugs' original or intended therapeutic use. The drug repositioning approach has the potential to be employed over traditional drug discovery programs because of the reduction of monetary discovery, duration of development, and risk of failure. In recent years, the drug repositioning strategy has gained considerable momentum, accounting for about one-third of new drug approvals corresponding to repurposed drugs and generating around 25% of annual revenue for pharmaceutical industries. The application of computational approaches and techniques for the prediction and exploration of the pharmacological effects of developing drug candidates and/or lead molecules offers significant hope for current drug discovery programs because it is inexpensive, time-saving, and less risky. The use of computational approaches in drug discovery research not only helps in the discovery of new drugs from leads or existing drug molecules but also in the repurposing of existing drugs. This book delivers useful and current information on various computational approaches, biophysical tools, databases, and experimental techniques that can be utilized for repurposing drugs and identifying the uses, novel drug targets, and mechanisms of existing drug candidates for various emerging or deadly diseases. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is a clear indication that there is a dire need for advanced silico tools and computational techniques along with in vitro and in vivo techniques for drug discovery. This volume presents recent advances in drug repurposing and computational approaches for the discovery and development of drugs against certain difficult-to-treat and life-threatening diseases, including microbial infections, parasitic diseases, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In addition, the book examines the challenges of drug repurposing and computational approaches. Chapters present up-to-date and in-depth information in a lucid, constructive, and unambiguous manner with adequate consistency in flow, continuity, and technical clarity. Through this book, readers can enhance their knowledge and skills with modern technologically advanced techniques, computational approaches, and in silico tools available for the discovery of drugs by drug repurposing strategies. The book is designed for graduate students, post-graduate students, doctoral researchers, senior academic researchers, professors, and others in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and allied (biochemical, biotechnology, bioinformatics, etc.) sciences from higher academic institutions, universities, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The editors would like to thank all the contributors

## Preface

Drug repurposing, also known as drug repositioning, drug reprofiling, or therapeutic switching, is the process of identifying new pharmacological indications from old, existing, investigational, or FDA-approved drugs, as well as applying newly developed drugs to the treatment of diseases other than the drugs' original or intended therapeutic use. The drug repositioning approach has the potential to be employed over traditional drug discovery programs because of the reduction of monetary discovery, duration of development, and risk of failure. In recent years, the drug repositioning strategy has gained considerable momentum, accounting for about one-third of new drug approvals corresponding to repurposed drugs and generating around 25% of annual revenue for pharmaceutical industries. The application of computational approaches and techniques for the prediction and exploration of the pharmacological effects of developing drug candidates and/or lead molecules offers significant hope for current drug discovery programs because it is inexpensive, time-saving, and less risky. The use of computational approaches in drug discovery research not only helps in the discovery of new drugs from leads or existing drug molecules but also in the repurposing of existing drugs. This book delivers useful and current information on various computational approaches, biophysical tools, databases, and experimental techniques that can be utilized for repurposing drugs and identifying the uses, novel drug targets, and mechanisms of existing drug candidates for various emerging or deadly diseases. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is a clear indication that there is a dire need for advanced silico tools and computational techniques along with in vitro and in vivo techniques for drug discovery. This volume presents recent advances in drug repurposing and computational approaches for the discovery and development of drugs against certain difficult-to-treat and life-threatening diseases, including microbial infections, parasitic diseases, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In addition, the book examines the challenges of drug repurposing and computational approaches. Chapters present up-to-date and in-depth information in a lucid, constructive, and unambiguous manner with adequate consistency in flow, continuity, and technical clarity. Through this book, readers can enhance their knowledge and skills with modern technologically advanced techniques, computational approaches, and in silico tools available for the discovery of drugs by drug repurposing strategies. The book is designed for graduate students, post-graduate students, doctoral researchers, senior academic researchers, professors, and others in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and allied (biochemical, biotechnology, bioinformatics, etc.) sciences from higher academic institutions, universities, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The editors would like to thank all the contributors

and reviewers for their invaluable and timely contributions to this edited volume. Feedback and suggestions from prospective readers and other stakeholders are most welcome.

#### **Mithun Rudrapal**

**1**

Section 1

Repurposing and Drug

Development

Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology and Research (Deemed to be University), Guntur, India

Section 1
