Pharmacophore modelling: applications in drug discovery

This review highlights the concept of using pharmacophore models in modern drug research and reviews some important examples as well as success stories. This includes papers from both method-development and application areas. As indicated by the number of publications available, the pharmacophore approach has proven to be extremely useful not only in virtual screening and library design for efficient hit discovery, but also in the optimisation of lead compounds to clinical candidates. Recent studies focus on the use of parallel screening using pharmacophore models for bioactivity profiling and early stage risk assessment of potential side effects and toxicity, due to the interaction of drug candidates with antitargets.