Biological assessment of combinatorial techniques
Chimie combinatoire

To date, no drugs derived from combinatorial chemistry have been brought to market. With the first experiments in combinatorial chemistry dating back to 1991, the technique is still too "young" considering that the entire process of discovering a new drug takes an average of ten years. However, the results are encouraging. The American company Eli Lilly has a compound derived from combinatorial chemistry in advanced clinical development, acting on the central nervous system (migraine treatment). Several other companies have products in Phase I, discovered by lead optimization techniques, via focused banks. Among others, Houghten Pharmaceutical has developed a cytokine-regulating agent to combat cancer, obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Neurogen has identified an antagonist of NPY1, a neuropeptide implicated in obesity, using combinatorial chemistry techniques integrated into the classical...