Drug Repurposing: A Modern Approach to Drug Discovery

Drug repurposing, also known as drug repositioning, involves
identifying new therapeutic uses for existing drugs. This approach offers a faster, safer, and more cost-effective alternative to traditional drug discovery, which is often time-consuming and expensive. Since repurposed drugs have already been tested for safety and pharmacokinetics, they can be rapidly advanced into clinical trials. Several well-known drugs, such as aspirin, sildenafil, and thalidomide, have successfully been repurposed for new indications.
Repurposing can be done using experimental methods or computer-based technologies, including artificial intelligence and large drug databases. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of drug repurposing in emergencies, with drugs like Remdesivir and
Dexamethasone playing crucial roles. Despite its advantages,
challenges such as limited profitability, and the need for further testing remain. With growing access to biomedical data and advanced computational tools, drug repurposing is poised to become a key strategy in modern medicine.