Advancing the field of medicinal chemistry
AT some point of your life, you will fall sick and would need drugs but where do drugs come from?
This is where medicinal chemistry comes into play.
Medicinal chemistry may sound unfamiliar as not many have given thought about the background work that goes into drug development, but it is highly relatable to us.
“Medicinal chemists are the people who design and help develop the drugs we have. Today, we know of more than 30,000 diseases, molecular cause for 4,000 of them but we have treatment for only 250 of them,” said lecturer Dr Ken Yeong Keng Yoon from Monash University Malaysia’s School of Science.
He added that there is much more to be done in this field.
Medicinal chemistry is the latest major to be introduced in Monash University Malaysia’s Bachelor of Science programme.
Dr Yeong believes it is crucial for students to realise the importance of this field.
“It is an emerging and exciting field that involves particularly organic synthesis chemistry as well as life science and pharmaceutical science. However, it is still in its infancy in Malaysia because it is not relatively at the forefront of science and there isn’t a critical mass of people doing it as it requires a lot of effort and collaboration,” he said.
Developing a drug typically takes between 10 to 15 years.
Unlike international pharmaceutical companies that have all the technology and investment in place, how many companies in Malaysia are willing to invest an enormous amount of time, effort and money into developing a new drug?
The risk is just too huge. Nevertheless, Dr Yeong believes the medicinal chemistry industry in Malaysia needs to grow as we are becoming an ageing society.
This means an increasing number of people will live longer and consequently, more people are likely to fall sick and will need new treatment and cures.
Thus, new drugs are always in need.
“At the moment, it feels slightly isolated in this field as there aren’t enough scientists and definitely not enough collaboration. When you are isolated in research, things move at a slower pace. It would be good if we can have a platform to produce more scientists,” he said.
At the forefront of technology today, many are using computational methods to predict how drugs interact in the body.
Drug companies are also using artificial intelligence to develop and predict the interaction of drugs.
The aim is to make students realise the exciting things they could learn and relate to real life, letting them know that eventually, they might have the chance to make a difference in people’s lives.
“At Monash, we teach students how to use this technology, albeit at a basic level. In the medicinal chemistry major, students learn about the different classes of drugs, their pharmacokinetics, drug discovery and drug development, which touches on the scale-up of drugs from laboratory to industrial scale.
“The aim is to make students realise the exciting things they could learn and relate to real life, letting them know that eventually, they might have the chance to make a difference in people’s lives,” Dr Yeong said.
Laboratories at Monash are well equipped with instruments such as the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer and liquid chromatography-mass spectrophotometer to support research in this field.
Students will have a chance to sharpen their hands-on skills during the practical session by spending four hours a week working in labs.
Apart from the more traditional small molecules, students will be able to work on large molecules such as proteins and peptides.
“I would say passion is really important. Students need to devote a number of hours to excel in this major as it is a continuously evolving subject, covering a wide variety of topics. You could have a drug approved today and another withdrawn tomorrow, so you have to keep abreast on the latest developments,” Dr Yeong said.
Upon graduation, students can look for jobs in the specific field of medicinal chemistry but irrespective of their career path, the knowledge and skills gained from their Monash education will stay with them throughout their life journey. For details, visit www.sci.monash.edu.my.