Drug Repurposing

About Drug Repurposing:

• It is the technique of using an existing drug or drug candidate for a new treatment or medical condition for which it was not indicated before.
• It is also called drug repositioning or drug reprofiling, which is the identification of new therapeutic uses for existing or investigational drugs.
• It was initially developed to treat a different medical condition. It has been described as a serendipitous process that happens unexpectedly.
• The goal of drug repurposing is to quickly identify compounds with an established safety profile and known therapeutic advantages that may prove efficacious for other indications.
• Applications: Pharmaceutical companies are undertaking drug repurposing projects for rare diseases, oncology, infectious and autoimmune diseases and more.
• Significance: Drug repurposing can significantly reduce timelines and costs compared with de novo drug development.

Highlights of the research

• This research group has shown that Selegiline (L-deprenyl), an antidepressant drug from a class of drugs called monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, might be applied as anticancer therapeutics for breast cancer.
• Selegiline was found effective in killing estrogen and progesterone-positive (ER+ & PR+) as well as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).