Drug Design, Development and Therapy

Aims and Scope

Editor-in-Chief: Professor Frank Boeckler

Drug Design, Development and Therapy is an Open Access peer-reviewed journal covering the spectrum of drug design, discovery, and development through to clinical applications.

The journal’s audience includes pharmaceutical chemists, clinicians, Principal Investigators with academic and industry profiles interested in specific topics which include:
• Drug target identification and validation
• Phenotypic screening and target deconvolution
• Biochemical analyses of drug targets and their pathways
• New methods or relevant applications in molecular/drug design and computer-aided drug discovery*
• Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel biologically active compounds (including diagnostics or chemical probes)
• Structural or molecular biological studies elucidating molecular recognition processes
• Fragment-based drug discovery
• Pharmaceutical/red biotechnology
• Isolation, structural characterization, (bio)synthesis, bioengineering and pharmacological evaluation of natural products**
• Distribution, pharmacokinetics and metabolic transformations of drugs or biologically active compounds in drug development
• Drug delivery and formulation (design and characterization of dosage forms, release mechanisms and in vivo testing)
• Preclinical development studies
• Translational animal models
• Mechanisms of action and signalling pathways
• Toxicology
• Gene therapy, cell therapy and immunotherapy
• Personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics
• Clinical drug evaluation
• Patient safety and sustained use of medicines

The journal provides an open access platform for outstanding reviews on drug efficacy, therapies, and drug profiles. We are proud our authors show a high level of satisfaction based on an engaged Editor in Chief and Editorial Board, a quality peer review, and rapid decision making.

The journal welcomes for consideration the following paper types: original research, reviews, expert opinions, commentary and clinical studies in all therapeutic areas. All articles received by the Journal will be subject to a single-anonymous peer review.

The journal does not accept study protocols, case reports or bibliometric analyses.

Case reports/series submitted to Drug Design, Development and Therapy will be diverted to the International Medical Case Reports Journal (Journal metric data for this journal can be accessed here).

*Manuscripts that are based solely on network pharmacology in combination with molecular docking analyses will not be considered by the journal. Validation of the suggested ligand-target interactions must be presented at least by meaningful in vitro experiments on the molecular level. This can be complemented by functional assays, cellular studies, or even animal experiments (in that order).

**Natural Products: Studies using natural products isolated and purified from natural sources (plants, bacteria, etc.) or produced through full or partial chemical synthesis need to have a confirmed purity of best > 95% by HPLC. If the purity is below 90% it should be rationalized, why a higher purity cannot be achieved. Information about impurities and their properties should be provided, if possible. At the least, experimental results need to be viewed with caution and the level of purity should be discussed as a limiting factor. 

**Natural Product Extracts / Decoctions (WIP): Studies using natural product extracts/decoctions will only be considered if the active compound(s) has been adequately identified and validated. While it is often not possible to identify the “one and only active compound” from an extract or decoction, efforts should be made to provide key insights into the active ingredient(s). Authors should consider and discuss the possibility that several active compounds exhibit a synergistic effect and, thus, the mixture is more than the sum of the effects of its purified ingredients. Validation of the suggested ligand-target interactions must be presented at least by meaningful in vitro experiments on the molecular level. This can be complemented by functional assays, cellular studies, or even animal experiments (in that order).

When considering submission of a paper utilizing publicly available data authors should ensure that such studies add significantly to the body of knowledge and that they are validated using the authors’ own data through replication in an original sample.

All authors who want to submit their work to Drug Design, Development and Therapy must adhere to the guidelines provided in the Editorial titled ‘Statistical Analysis in Clinical and Experimental Medical Research: Simplified Guidance for Authors and Reviewers’. The Editorial can be found here.

Updated 8 May 2025