Drug discovery is a constantly developing and expanding area of research. Developed to provide a comprehensive guide, the Handbook of Medicinal Chemistry covers the past, present and future of the entire drug development process. Highlighting the recent successes and failures in drug discovery, the book helps readers to understand the factors governing modern drug discovery from the initial concept through to a marketed medicine. With chapters covering a wide range of topics from drug discovery processes and optimization, development of synthetic routes, pharmaceutical properties and computational biology, the handbook aims to enable medicinal chemists to apply their academic understanding to every aspect of drug discovery.

Each chapter includes expert advice to not only provide a rigorous understanding of the principles being discussed, but to provide useful hints and tips gained from within the pharmaceutical industry. This expertise, combined with project case studies, highlighting and discussing all areas of successful projects, make this an essential handbook for all those involved in pharmaceutical development.

Andrew Davis read Chemistry at Imperial College of Science and Technology and then completed a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry with Professor MI Page at the University of Huddersfield. He joined Fisons PLC Pharmaceuticals Division in 1988, which became part of the Swedish pharmaceutical company Astra AB in 1995. Astra merged with Zeneca PLC in 1999 to form AstraZeneca PLC. Dr Davis has spent the last 23 years in drug discovery, in line management, project and portfolio management and senior science roles. He has recently relocated to Sweden with AstraZeneca as Senior Principal Scientist and project leader in Chemistry with the Respiratory and Inflammation Innovative Medicines in Gothenburg.

Simon Ward has an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from Cambridge University. He has a wide ranging experience of drug discovery in both large and small companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Vernalis, Chiroscience) and specialist experience of discovering and developing drugs for central nervous system indications. He has led multidisciplinary project teams and medicinal chemistry groups from target identification, through to early clinical studies, delivering multiple clinical development candidates across indications. Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is currently Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sussex, UK and Director of the Translational Drug Discovery Group, which he established within the University of Sussex in 2010.