Label-free kinetic binding data as a decisive element in drug discovery

The emerging possibilities to obtain label-free, kinetic-based binding data for drug-target and drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME)-marker interactions have proven useful in many drug discovery related issues. Multiple reports have demonstrated that the common use of affinity as an early measure of drug potency may be directly misleading. This review summarises findings in the literature related to compound selection in the drug discovery process. It is important to understand the different properties of association and dissociation rates, the former being related to both structure and dosage and the latter depending solely on molecular structure. By performing parallel optimisations of association and dissociation rates, compounds with desirable kinetic profiles for target binding may be generated. In addition, compound selection may also consider the kinetic properties of the drug-ADME-marker binding profiles, further refining the quality of compounds early in the drug discovery process. The promising results found in the literature indicate that kinetic data on drug-protein interactions may soon become a crucial decisive element in modern drug discovery.