The Scripps Research Institute Chemists Invent Powerful Toolkit, Accelerating Creation of Potential New Drugs

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented a set of chemical tools that is radically simplifying the creation of potential new drug compounds. Pharmaceutical chemists frequently seek to generate dozens or even hundreds of variations of a given compound to see which works best. The new toolkit -- described in the Nov. 28, 2012 issue of the journal Nature -- makes this process easier and cheaper, enabling previously time- and cost-prohibitive chemical modifications. This fundamental innovation is already being adopted by drug companies and is expected to speed the development of new compounds in other industries as well.