Polypharmacology
Polypharmacology refers to the development and the use of pharmaceutical agents that act on multiple targets or disease pathways. It is generally thought that complex diseases – such as central nervous system diseases and cancer – may require complex therapeutic approaches. In this respect, a drug that hits multiple sensitive nodes belonging to a network of interacting targets offers the potential for higher efficacy and may limit drawbacks generally arising from the use of a single-target drug or a combination of multiple drugs.
Dual-target (or multi-target) ligands are generally designed using a strategy of molecular hybridization, a new concept in drug design and development based on the combination of pharmacophoric moieties of different bioactive substances to produce a new hybrid compound able to modulate multiple targets of interest. Using this strategy, we develop bifunctional ligands that target two different neurotransmitter receptors to tackle complex neurological disorders.
