Drug Design and Analytical Chemistry

The know-how of the Drug Design and Analytical Chemistry Unit covers the field of medicinal chemistry and analytics necessary for identifying potential drug candidates from the area of »small molecules« as well as their development towards a clinical candidate.

By applying partially new computational chemistry approaches the potential target molecules are generated in silico and evaluated with regard to their efficacy at the target protein before being synthesized. For this purpose conventional ligand- and structure-based methods as well as quantum mechanical and semi-empirical methods are employed. The unit also provides all relevant prerequisites to conduct drug development in pre-clinical and clinical studies, including a regulatory context. MALDI-TOF-MS and LC-MS systems allow monitoring relevant parameters. The unit offers know-how and experience for developing assays that are established in cooperation with the other units of this department providing the portfolio to survey the treatment success of new therapies, e.g. by applyingication new biomarkers.