aFAMZ1_15 Molecular Principles of Drug Design

Faculty of Pharmacy
Spring 2026

The course is not taught in Spring 2026

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PharmDr. Oldřich Farsa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PharmDr. Tomáš Goněc, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PharmDr. Oldřich Farsa, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
PharmDr. Tomáš Goněc, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Ing. Jiří Václavík, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PharmDr. Oldřich Farsa, Ph.D.
Department of Chemical Drugs – Departments – Faculty of Pharmacy
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Abstract
Objectives of the course:
The course develops and deepens knowledge of pharmaceutical chemistry in combination with other pharmaceutical and biological branches of knowledge in terms of drug research and development strategy. The key objective is structure proposal and further optimisations so that a new potential drug met basic bioavailability requirements, i.e. absorption, distribution, and binding to receptors.

Content:
The course covers knowledge at the interface between pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology and pharmaceutical technology. Approaches generally used at drug structure development, including QSAR, combinatorial chemistry, molecular modelling, and fragment approach are discussed. Structural factors affecting biological effect, factors affecting drug absorption and transport to the place of action, and drug binding to receptors are considered. Polymorphism, influence of particle size, and other physico-chemical methods of drug molecule modification are regarded. The review of actual administrative regulations in the sphere of drug development is provided.
Learning outcomes
After passing the subject, the student will have to know, present, explain or draw:
-meaning of physicochemical properties for drug development, including a simple calculation of a basic lipophilic parameter (log P ...)
-combinatorial chemistry, fragment method, and QSAR as drug development tools
-meaning of metabolism and efflux pumps for drug development
-usage of formula editors, fundamentals of structure encoding, searching for compound properties and information about them by the usage of structure codes
-principles of interactions of small molecules with target structures
specifics of veterinary drugs development
-fundamentals of privileged structures theory and chemogenomics
Key topics
Topics of lectures
1. Introduction into the discipline, its concept and organisation. Combinatorial chemistry as a tool of drug design.
2. Physico-chemical properties of compounds and their importance for the activity in the organism.
3. Quantitative structure-activity relationships
4. Optimisation of physico-chemical properties based on analogy.
5. Design of strong analgesics.
6. Development of biologic therapeutics.
7. Theory of priviledged structures. Chemogenomics.
8. Fragment method in drug design.
9. Design of drugs with respect to their metabolism I. Toxic metabolites.
10. Design of drugs with respect to their metabolism II. Prodrugs and their design.
11. Development of specific veterinary medicines.
12. Membrane transporters and their importance for drug design.
13. Efflux pumps and their importance in drug design and development.
14. Interaction of a target structure and a drug on molecular level.
Study resources and literature
    recommended literature
  • Small molecule medicinal chemistry : strategies and technologies. Edited by Werngard Czechtizky - Peter Hamley. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2016, 1 online. ISBN 9781118771723. URL info
  • The practice of medicinal chemistry. Edited by Camille Georges Wermuth - David Aldous - Pierre Raboisson - Didier Rog. Fourth edition. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2015, 1 online. ISBN 9780124172135. URL info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
Lectures, practical classes
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
With a mark.
Written quiz combining multiple-choice questions with questions for a text or a drawing answer. Attendance at all the practical classes and/or seminars including providing all required reports, and their confirmation by the teacher, are conditions for doing the eaxam.
Language of instruction
English
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