BIOTECH 7001 - Drug Discovery and Development

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2014

Societies across the world are looking to combat a greater range of human diseases but at the same time contain spiralling healthcare costs. This, together with global competition and increasing regulatory standards, puts enormous pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to discover and develop a greater number of therapeutic candidates even faster and cheaper than ever before. This course develops the key themes in the drug discovery and development pipeline and highlights the multi-disciplinary nature of the research and development process. Topics include: Target identification and validation, Hit discovery, Hit-to-lead optimisation, pre-clinical and clinical testing, regulatory and manufacturing considerations.

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Course Details

Course Code	BIOTECH 7001
Course	Drug Discovery and Development
Coordinating Unit	School of Molecular and Biomedical Sci(Inactive)
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 4 hours per week
Assumed Knowledge	BIOCHEM 2500 or equivalent
Restrictions	Available to GCBIBIOM, GDBIBIOM, MBIBIOM students only
Assessment	Tutorial presentation and participation, wirtten assignment, exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Grant Booker

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

A successful student should be able to:

1	Demonstrate an awareness of the current approaches to global drug discovery and their advantages and limitations.
2	Demonstrate an understanding of the steps involved in the drug discovery and design process
3	Demonstrate an awareness of the important contributions the different discipline areas make to the drug discovery and development process.
4	Critically analyse biological pathways for their potential as drug targets for a given disease.
5	Demonstrate the ability to use evidence-based approaches to guide decision making during the drug discovery and development process.
6	Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of strict quality control and regulation in the drug development process, and an awareness of issues associated with the manufacturing of medicines such as good manufacturing practice.
7	Critically analyse and integrate information from the scientific literature.
8	Present to an audience in summary the critical evaluation of the scientific literature and experimental data

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Molecular Graphics Software
Access to the free molecular grpahics software "Chimera" is required for the drug design workshops

Recommended Resources

MyUni:
Course resources as provided including video/audio recording of lectures and copies of PowerPoint slides, as well as additional reading/recommended texts

Weblinks:
As specified during the course
Scientific literature and journal articles
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes

This course will be delivered by the following means:
1 or 2 x 1 hour lectures per week
1 x 2 hour workshop/tutorial per week

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Contact Hours (45 hours)
Lectures 18 x 1 = 18 hours
Workshops 12 x 2 = 24 hours
Exam 1 x 3 hours = 3 hours

Non-contact Hours (110 hours)
Weekly reading/other study hours per lecture = 36 hours
Preparation for workshops 2 hour per week = 24 hours
Preparation for presentations = 6 hours
Major essay = 20 hours
Exam preparation= 24 hours

Total = approximately 155 hours

Learning Activities Summary
The topics covered in the course and supported by online resources are as follows:
- Lecture 1-2: Introduction to drug discovery and target product profiles
- Lectures 3-4: High throughput screening methods.
- Lectures 5-6 Medicinal chemistry
- Lecture 7-8: Pharmacology and ADME toxicology
- Lecture 9-12: Fragments, peptidomimetics and structure based drug design
- Lecture 13: IP considerations
- Lectures 14-18: Case studies in drug discovery.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Target Product Profile Presentation	Formative and Summative	End week 8	10%	1-8
Drug Design Workshop Portfolio	Formative and Summative	End week 12	15%	1-3,5
Written Assignment	Formative and Summative	End Week 11	25%	4,7
End of Semester theory exam	Summative	In examination period	50%	1-6

Assessment Detail

No information currently available.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator