Kinase drug discovery - Richard Ward

Kinase drug discovery remains an area of significant interest across academia and in the pharmaceutical industry. There are now around 13 FDA approved small molecule drugs which target kinases and many more compounds in various stages of clinical development. Although there have been a number of reviews/publications on kinase research, this book fills a gap in the literature by considering the current and future opportunities and challenges in targeting this important family of enzymes. The book is forward-looking and identifies a number of hot topics and key areas for kinase drug discovery over the coming years. It includes contributions from highly respected authors with a combined experience in the industry of well over 200 years, which has resulted in a book of great interest to the kinase field and across drug discovery more generally. Readers will gain a real insight into the huge challenges and opportunities which this target class has presented drug discovery scientists. The many chapters cover a wide breadth of topics, are well written and include high quality colour and black and white images. Topics covered include an outline of how medicinal chemistry has been able to specifically exploit this unique target class, along with reflections on the mechanisms of kinases inhibitors. Also covered is resistance to kinase inhibitors caused by amino acid mutations, case studies of kinase programs and reviews areas beyond protein kinases and beyond the human kinome. Also described are modern approaches to finding kinase leads and the book finishes with a reflection of how kinase drug discovery may progress over the coming years.