Origins of preindustrial therapeutics

Question 1

What are the origins and limitations of origins?

Answer 1

Origins: Based on natural remedies (e.g., plants, minerals) with empirical use.
Limitations: Lacked standardisation, safety, and efficacy testing; relied on trial and error.

Question 2

What was the transition to the pharma industry?

Answer 2

Industrialisation enabled large-scale production and standardisation.
Advances in chemistry facilitated drug synthesis (e.g., aspirin)

Question 3

What is rational drug design?

Answer 3

Shifted focus to understanding disease mechanisms and targeting specific molecules.

Question 4

Limitations of drug discovery(1960s/70s)

Answer 4

Limited knowledge of molecular biology.
High failure rates in clinical trials due to poor target validation.