Pharmacological activity and drug likeness depend in principle upon the microscopic structure and macroscopic properties of drugs, which reside in their molecular structures. By means of medicinal chemistry the evolution of an active compound to a novel drug (NME) essentially makes the two pillars coexistence in one chemical structure, which either could merge as an intrinsic structure or connect from external fragments to each other with covalent bonds. Since the new millennium the advance in biology provides several knowledge and technologies, for example humanized monoclonal antibody, proteasome-ubiquitin system, allosteric modulation, natural macromolecules, structural biology, etc., for innovation of novel medicines. Taking several examples on marketed drugs or drug candidates in clinical trials, this article tries to concisely illustrate R & D conception of biology-driven drug design.

biology-driven drug innovation  /  antibody drug conjugate  /  allosteric inhibitor  /  proteolysis targeting chimera  /  macrocyclic small molecule drug