Conclusion

In this course you have had a brief introduction to how the drug-discovery process is conceived and initiated. You should by now have some appreciation of the intrinsic difficulties associated with developing a drug molecule from conception into a medicine suitable for clinical use and of how molecular modelling can be used in the drug discovery process. You should also by now have an elementary appreciation of the concept of pain and some understanding of the historical background to pain control. You should be aware that opioids, steroids and NSAIDs all work at the molecular level. Finally you should appreciate that anti-inflammation drug discovery requires a detailed understanding of the biochemical processes that constitute the inflammatory response.