AlphaFold2 protein structure prediction: Implications for drug discovery

The drug discovery process involves designing compounds to selectively interact with their targets. The majority of therapeutic targets for low molecular weight (small molecule) drugs are proteins. The outstanding accuracy with which recent artificial intelligence methods compile the three-dimensional structure of proteins has made protein targets more accessible to the drug design process. Here, we present our perspective of the significance of accurate protein structure prediction on various stages of the small molecule drug discovery life cycle focusing on current capabilities and assessing how further evolution of such predictive procedures can have a more decisive impact in the discovery of new medicines.