Drug Design

Drug Design, Volume IX examines various aspects of drug design and covers topics ranging from the consequences of the Hansch paradigm for the pharmaceutical industry to the Masca model of pharmacochemistry. A physicochemical basis for the design of orally active prodrugs is also considered, along with the use of interactive graphics in medicinal chemistry. Comprised of seven chapters, this volume begins with a discussion on efforts to avoid toxicity, not only of drugs, pesticides, and food additives but also of chemicals in general. The reader is then introduced to various aspects of the development of bioactive agents, including the optimization of existing agents by the design of more efficient prodrugs. Other chapters focus on Hansch's paradigm and its application to industrial practice; the application of multivariate statistics to pharmacochemistry; a logico-structural approach to computer-assisted drug design; and spatial arrangements in bioactive molecules. This book will be of interest to pharmacologists, chemists, and those involved in drug design.