New Horizons in Drug Repurposing
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: synthesis and biological studies on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, on inhibitors of enzymes implicated in the inflammation and in the coagulation process in general; correlation of inflammation with cancer; neurodegeneration; antioxidant activity; theoretical and experimental calculation of physicochemical parameters implicated in biological response; use of computational chemistry in drug design as well as bioactive compounds of natural origin, e.g., essential oils
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Drug repurposing has become a productive tool for drug discovery because it provides a new way to explore old drugs for new uses and applications. Numerous strategies have been applied to discover new indications for approved drugs. Traditional Rational drug design and development involve several steps for the discovery of a new drug and approval for the market. It is necessary to develop new strategies for reducing the time required for drug discovery. Considering the high costs and slow release of new drug discovery and development, repositioning “old” drugs to treat both common and rare diseases is increasingly becoming an attractive target, involving the use of de-risked compounds with potentially lower overall development costs and shorter development times. Various data and experimental techniques, such as modeling, 3D computer-aided approaches, X-rays, crystallography, and delineation of the structure of new or old proteins, have been suggested for the identification of repositioning drug candidates.
Cancer is an example of drug repositioning since cancer is a major health issue worldwide. The limited success of current therapies has driven significant investments in drug development. This unmet need for more effective anti-cancer drugs led to increased investigation for drug repurposing using drugs already approved for other diseases to treat cancer.
Several examples of old drugs and research on them have been conducted, and the research in this area is ongoing, yielding significant results.
Prof. Dr. Dimitra Hadjipavlou-Litina
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- drug discovery
- drug repositioning
- drug repurposing
- genetic diseases
- rare diseases
- cancer
- orphan drugs
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
