This one-stop reference is the first to present the complete picture -- covering all relevant organisms, from single cells to mammals, as well as all major disease areas, including neurological disorders, cancer and infectious diseases. Addressing the needs of the pharmaceutical industry, this unique handbook adopts a broad perspective on the use of animals in the early part of the drug development process, including regulatory rules and limitations, as well as numerous examples from real-life drug development projects. After a general introduction to the topic, the expert contributors from research-driven pharmaceutical companies discuss the basic considerations of using animal models, including ethical issues. The main part of the book systematically surveys the most important disease areas for current drug development, from cardiovascular to endocrine disorders, and from infectious to neurological diseases. For each area, the availability of animal models for target validation, hit finding and lead profiling is reviewed, backed by numerous examples of both successes and failures among the use of animal models. The whole is rounded off with a discussion of perspectives and challenges. Key knowledge for drug researchers in industry as well as academia.

This book intends to be an updated compilation of the most important buccal, gastric, intestinal, pulmonary, nasal, vaginal, ocular, skin and blood-brain barrier in vitro models for predicting the permeability of drugs. Concepts and Models for Drug Permeability Studies focuses on different approaches and comprises of various models. Each model describes the protocol of seeding and conservation, the application for specific drugs, and takes into account the maintenance of physiologic characteristics and functionality of epithelium, from the simplest immortalized cell-based monoculture to the most complex engineered-tissue models. Chapters also discuss the equivalence between in vitro cell and tissue models and in vivo conditions, highlighting how each model may provisionally resemble a different drug absorption route. - Updated information regarding the most recent in vitro models to study the permeability of drugs - Short and concise chapters covering all the biological barriers with interest in drug permeability - A combination of bibliographic information related with individual models and footnote instructions of technical procedures for construction of cell and tissue-based models - Simple and clear scientific content, adaptable for young scientists and experimented researchers

Drug discovery and development process aims to make available medications that are safe and effective in improving the length and quality of life and relieving pain and suffering. However, the process is very complex, time consuming, resource intensive, requiring multi-disciplinary expertise and innovative approaches. There is a growing urgency to identify and develop more effective, efficient, and expedient ways to bring safe and effective products to the market. The drug discovery and development process relies on the utilization of relevant and robust tools, methods, models, and validated biomarkers that are predictive of clinical effects in terms of diagnosis, prevention, therapy, and prognosis. There is a growing emphasis on translational research, a bidirectional bench to the bedside approach, in an effort to improve the process efficiency and the need for further innovations. The authors in the book discuss the current and evolving state of drug discovery and development.

As a guide for pharmaceutical professionals to the issues and practices of drug discovery toxicology, this book integrates and reviews the strategy and application of tools and methods at each step of the drug discovery process. • Guides researchers as to what drug safety experiments are both practical and useful • Covers a variety of key topics – safety lead optimization, in vitro-in vivo translation, organ toxicology, ADME, animal models, biomarkers, and –omics tools • Describes what experiments are possible and useful and offers a view into the future, indicating key areas to watch for new predictive methods • Features contributions from firsthand industry experience, giving readers insight into the strategy and execution of predictive toxicology practices

This book covers the essentials of drug delivery research and provides a unique forum for scientific experimental methods that are exclusively focused by the in-vitro, ex-vivo, and in-vivo methodologies of drug delivery research and felicitates translational research. The book includes recent and novel approaches in evaluation methods of transdermal, nasal, ocular, oral and intraoral, gastro-retentive, colon-targeted, and brain-targeted drug delivery systems. Providing up to date and comprehensive information, this text is invaluable to students, teachers, scientists, and others employed in the field of drug delivery.

Biodiversity and Biomedicine: Our Future provides a new outlook on Earth's animal, plant, and fungi species as vital sources for human health treatments. While there are over 10 million various species on the planet, only 2 million have been discovered and named. This book identifies modern ways to incorporate Earth's species into biomedical practices and emphasizes the need for biodiversity conservation. Written by leading biodiversity and biomedical experts, the book begins with new insights on the benefits of biologically active compounds found in fungi and plants, including a chapter on the use of wild fruits as a treatment option. The book goes on to discuss the roles of animals, such as amphibians and reptiles, and how the threatened presence of these species must be reversed to conserve biodiversity. It also discusses marine organisms, including plants, animals, and microbes, as essential in contributing to human health. Biodiversity and Biomedicine: Our Future is a vital source for researchers and practitioners specializing in biodiversity and conservation studies. Students in natural medicine and biological conservation will also find this useful to learn of the world's most bio-rich communities and the molecular diversity of various species. - Presents new developments in documenting and identifying species for biodiversity conservation and ethical considerations for biodiversity research - Examines biodiversity as an irreplaceable resource for biomedical breakthroughs using available species for medical research - Discusses challenges and opportunities for biodiversity protection and research in biosphere reserves

Here in a single source is a complete spectrum of ideas on the development of new anticancer drugs. Containing concise reviews of multidisciplinary fields of research, this book offers a wealth of ideas on current and future molecular targets for drug design, including signal transduction, the cell division cycle, and programmed cell death. Detailed descriptions of sources for new drugs and methods for testing and clinical trial design are also provided. - One work that can be consulted for all aspects of anticancer drug development - Concise reviews of research fields, combined with practical scientific detail, written by internationally respected experts - A wealth of ideas on current and future molecular targets for drug design, including signal transduction, the cell division cycle, and programmed cell death - Detailed descriptions of the sources of new anticancer drugs, including combinatorial chemistry, phage display, and natural products - Discussion of how new drugs can be tested in preclinical systems, including the latest technology of robotic assay systems, cell culture, and experimental animal techniques - Hundreds of references that allow the reader to access relevant scientific and medical literature - Clear illustrations, some in color, that provide both understanding of the field and material for teaching

Focused on central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery efforts, this book educates drug researchers about the blood-brain barrier (BBB) so they can affect important improvements in one of the most significant – and most challenging – areas of drug discovery. • Written by world experts to provide practical solutions to increase brain penetration or minimize CNS side-effects • Reviews state-of-the-art in silico, in vitro, and in vivo tools to assess brain penetration and advanced CNS drug delivery strategies • Covers BBB physiology, medicinal chemistry design principles, free drug hypothesis for the BBB, and transport mechanisms including passive diffusion, uptake/efflux transporters, and receptor-mediated processes • Highlights the advances in modelling BBB pharmacokinetics and dynamics relationships (PK/PD) and physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) • Discusses case studies of successful CNS and non-CNS drugs, lessons learned and paths to the market