Module: Advanced Medicinal Chemistry

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Advanced Medicinal Chemistry
Module Code	CS414 (ITS) / CHM1040 (Banner)
Faculty	Science & Health	School	Chemical Sciences
Module Co-ordinator	Andrew Kellett
Module Teachers	Kieran Nolan
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

None

Description

Students will be introduced to the concepts of drug design and development including the use of computational modelling. Concepts related to both drug delivery, pro-drugs and hybrid drug molecules are also described. Advanced topics relating to modern drug development will also be covered with emphasis on drug design, solid-form development, clinical trials and final marketing using specific drug examples from the last 15 years.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the principles of radiopharaceutical design and MRI contrast agents
2. Understand the principles of nucleic acid drugs and antisense therapeutics
3. Prodrug design and applications
4. Introduction to drug delivery
5. Drug design including fragment approaches, QSAR and 3D QSAR with specific examples.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	24	Lectures
Directed learning	101	Independent study and learning
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Pharmaceutical solid form development
Polymorphism, salts, hydrates, co-crystals; Solid-form risk assessment, solid-form properties regulation of solid forms (ICH 6 & 9); Experimental and computational screening for solid forms, case studies.

Computational chemistry in drug development
Key computational approaches for modelling molecules (ab initio, force fields etc.); conformational analysis of APIs; basic principles of docking.

Radiopharmaceuticals and contrast agents
Metal complexes in disease diagnostics, radiopharmaceuticals, magnetic resonance imaging, SPECT, PET, tracer design

Nucleic acid drugs
Antisense therapeutics, gene editing, nucleic acid chemistry, hybrid nucleic acid drugs, nucleic acid chemistry

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

0: As directed in course, 297227
2017: Developing Solid Oral Dosage Forms, E-book, Part I, Chapters 1-4, Elsevier, 297228
2017: An introduction to medicinal chemistry, 6th, Oxford University Press,

Other Resources

None