What is medicinal chemistry?

Chemistry and medicines: an introductory text

J. R. Hanson 

Cambridge: RSC 2006 | Pp192 | £27.50 | ISBN 0 854 04645 3 

Jim Hanson's aim was to provide a brief introduction to medicinal chemistry for undergraduates, so the first question that has to be posed is what is medicinal chemistry? Someone working in the pharmaceutical industry would probably think in terms of designing a lead compound and then changing its structure to provide a molecule with the highest potency and most acceptable profile for absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicology (ADMET). However, as with most university courses in medicinal chemistry, this book is more concerned with a description of the main drug types and a discussion of their chemistry, including their synthesis.