The role of medicinal chemistry in drug research

Classical medicinal chemistry, that is molecular modifications of existing bioactive compounds, leading to me-too drugs with value added and often to me-too drugs which will never reach the market or to drugs in another pharmacological field than that originally intended, will be with us for a long time to come. The ultimate goal, however, is of course rational or at least semi-rational drug design. In some instances this goal seems to have already been reached as in the case of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and H₂ antagonists. In the (near) future results from the steady progress in molecular biology in combination with computer-assisted drug modelling — possibly coupled with artificial intelligence techniques — will help the medicinal chemist in his efforts to attain this goal.