S2.E2: On Target

11/24/21 • 33 min

On this episode of the I'm Pharmacy Podcast, host Mina Tadrous finds answers to the questions: How do we figure out how where drugs work? Does this ever change? And are there more than just one way to find that final target? Featuring discussions with Stèphane Angers, Director and Professor of U of T's Donnelly Centre, and Rob Bonin, Assistant Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Co-director of the U of T Centre for the Study of Pain.

Previous Episode

S2.E1 - Building the Foundation

In 1921. At the corner of university and college in Toronto, two scientists Frederick Banting, and Charles best figured out how to remove insulin from a dog's pancreas. They extracted thick brown sludge. Fast-forward 100 years, and the world is still benefiting from this momentous discovery. As we kick-off the second season of the I'm Pharmacy Podcast, host Mina Tadrous starts with the pivotal question: Where do the ideas for new drugs start from? Where do they even start by inventing a new drug? And how does one find the next insulin?

Next Episode

S2.E3: The Big Leap

The process of moving from a potential drug molecule to being on the shelf of a pharmacy is a long and winding journey. On average, from the time the molecule is discovered to when it's actually approved by the FDA, it takes 12 to 15 years. More importantly, it costs close to $1 billion to bring a drug to market. It's also estimated that of the 1000s of molecules that are looked at, only a few will make it to clinical development, and following that, only five to six percent will survive and ended up being submitted for regulatory review. So how do we choose the winning horse? On this episode of the I'm Pharmacy Podcast we talk to Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy researchers Professor Micheline Piquette Miller, Professor Raymond Reilly, and Dr. Jennifer Doucet on just what it takes to conduct translational research, and the excitement of seeing one's research leave the lab.