Innovation-driven drug discovery: frontier exploration and breakthrough

The progress of drug discovery to the market scene typically requires 12 to 15 years, during which substantial financial investments are continuously made for various research and testing activities.The complexity and multifactorial nature of the disease, the complexity of the drug development process, the size of the chemical space to be explored, and stringent regulatory requirements are all current challenges. In recent years, the application of various emerging technologies in drug discovery has been increasing, offering the potential to reduce development costs. This review introduces several innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery, targeted protein degradation, interdisciplinary integration, and new synthetic technologies. These advancements can lead to a reduction in the overall cost of drug discovery. Additionally, we summarize the challenges and future directions associated with each technology discussed herein. We hope that these innovations will provide significant support in the field of drug development.