Chemistry & Chemical Technologies

MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY

Medical chemistry focuses on the molecular aspects of drug action, including interactions with drug targets from the aspects of both the drug and the target, the relationship between the chemical structure of the drug and its action, and the impact of metabolism on the structure of the drug and, consequently, the drug's action. Paul Ehrlich is the father of medicinal chemistry. A medicinal or pharmaceutical chemist studies and develops chemical substances that can be used as medicines. These chemists are essential to the pharmaceutical sector because they use chemical research techniques to isolate natural healing substances or create artificial ones.

Practitioners of medicinal chemistry have a solid background in organic chemistry, which must eventually be combined with a thorough understanding of biological principles relevant to cellular drug targets. Medicinal chemistry is by its very nature a multidisciplinary field.

Examples of medicinal chemistry-based research include the discovery of new medications to be tested in clinical trials within the pharmaceutical business as well as the identification of various plant features utilised to develop effective drugs.