Drug Repurposing: Exploring Newer Therapeutic Potentials

Drug repurposing is becoming a more captivating idea in treating sorts of diseases owing to the elevated mortality, exorbitant costs, and very poor success rate of new drug discovery. A range of computational and experimental avenues is employed in the identification of repurposed drug candidates against diverse diseases. A large number of therapeutics from different pharmacological classes have been reported to be effective in managing diseases. Moreover, phytochemicals have also shown great promise as repurposed drug candidates in managing diverse diseases. However, only limited repurposed drug candidates are observed to be available in the market or in clinical trials. Patents, regulatory concerns, and organizational obstacles are the key bottlenecks in the path of drug repurposing. The current chapter discusses drug repurposing and its significance and the avenues for drug repurposing. This article offers insights into drug repurposing for various diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, and infectious diseases. Additionally, repurposed phytochemicals for diverse disease management and challenges associated with repurposing drugs are also briefed. Furthermore, repurposed drugs that are on the market or currently undergoing clinical studies are covered.