Advanced Methods and Technologies in Drug Discovery

Dear Colleagues,

Drug discovery is a constantly evolving field with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic agents for a wide range of diseases with unmet medical needs. The process of drug discovery and development is complex and costly and includes various chemical and pharmaceutical strategies. These can even include serendipitous discovery, high-throughput screening of target molecule libraries, selective optimization of existing drugs or natural products, repurposing of known drugs, rational drug design, or the synthesis of new molecular entities based on information derived from crystal structures or in silico modeling techniques (QSAR). The process constantly evolves, with new technologies opening new and unprecedented entrance points. 

The application of drug identification strategies can, yield promising candidates that, subsequently, require an optimization process to enhance their properties, such as increasing affinity and selectivity for the target, ensuring non-toxicity and improving bioavailability, and enabling transformation into lead compounds and, ultimately, effective and safe drug products.

In this Special Issue, “Advanced Methods and Technologies in Drug Discovery”, we aim to focus on the most recent and most significant technical advancements in the field of drug discovery. Methods and Protocols aims to predominantly attract the submission of high-quality protocols, reviews, and original articles in the scope of this topic. This compendium aims to provide valuable insights from every angle of drug discovery and to highlight cutting-edge trends for the future of medicine.

Prof. Dr. Fernando Albericio
Dr. Philip Hublitz
Dr. Ivana Šagud
Guest Editors

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Methods and Protocols 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 1800 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.