Review · Volume 56, Issue 2S · pp. S121–S136

Drug Repurposing: A Potentially Emerging Discipline

Praveen Kumar¹, Mariam Mammen¹, Aswathy Madhusoodhanan¹, Archana Geetha Mohanan¹, Pradeep Kumar Ravindrannair^1,2, Anilkumar Appu Kuttan³, Sheeba Madhavan Sathi³, Mathew Steephan³

¹Department of Zoology, Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, INDIA.
²Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, INDIA.
³Department of Botany, Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, INDIA.

Abstract

Drug repurposing is the remodeling of already existing drugs to reduce the time frame, costs, and efforts in developing a new novel drug. This strategy has secured significant momentum in the previous decade. It overcomes the snags and pitfalls in the traditional means of drug discovery. This core research strategy has now become the sole approach to containing many deadly diseases that have no cure in the present. In astound, for pandemics like COVID-19 that is spreading like a wildfire worldwide, large-scale research programs and trials have been carried out to identify and modify existing drugs to counter the novel virus. Thus, this technology of drug repurposing offers a new lease of life, and greatly promotes the progress of the medicine, health, and pharma sectors. The purpose of this study is to understand the current status of drug repurposing in the field of virology, bacteriology, mycology, and oncology for clinical translatability.

Keywords: Drug repositioning; Drug development; Antibacterial; Antiviral; Anticancer; SARs-Cov-2

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