PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY

This course is one of the basic training activities of the master’s degree course in Chemistry and Sustainable Technologies, curriculum Biomolecular Chemistry. It provides the students with basic knowledge about Pharmaceutical Chemistry, a science that deals with the composition and preparation of chemical compounds used in medical diagnoses and therapies.

The fundamental objective of the course is to introduce students to the general concepts of pharmaceutical chemistry and provide them with a basic grounding in the drug mechanisms of action, drug discovery and and drug development process.

1. Knowledge and understanding
- knowledge of the drug’s targets
- knowledge of how different physics, chemistry and structure properties affect the biological activity of a pharmaceutical compound
- knowledge of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics
- knowledge of enzymes and receptors involved with drugs
- knowledge of research and development of new compounds
- knowledge of different classes and actions of drugs

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
- Being able to use the acquired knowledge to comprehend, and logically interpret how and why a specific drug was designed

3. Ability to judge
- Use the acquired knowledge to analyse the drug’s design and activity
- Being able to expose different classes of pharmaceutical compounds in different medical applications
- Being able to recognize errors through a critical analysis of the applied method and to formulate alternative hypotheses

4. Communication skills
- Being able to convey the acquired knowledge using an appropriate terminology
- Being able to interact with the teacher and the classmates respectfully and constructively, especially during the presentation of the assigned scientific article/topic in front of the classroom

5. Learning skills
- Being able to take notes, selecting and collecting information according to their importance
- Being able to make logical connections between the different topics of the course
- Being able to understand and present in the classroom a scientific article/specific topic assigned using PowerPoint slides and appropriate scientific language

The student entering this course must have a knowledge of inorganic/organic chemistry and biochemistry.

1) Introduction to general pharmaceutical chemistry
- The main molecular drug’s targets
- Definition of drug and pharmaceutical chemistry
- Drug classification and mode of action
2) Drug's chemistry-physics properties and biological activity
- pH, percentage of ionization and distribution of a drug and different chemical bonds involved
3) How structural characteristics affect a drug’s biological activity
4) Different action phases of a drug
- routes of administration
- pharmacokinetics
- pharmacodynamics
5) Enzymes and drugs
- enzyme catalysis
- enzyme kinetics
- enzyme inhibitors
6) Receptors and drugs
- agonists (pure or partial), antagonists (competitive, non-competitive, allosteric and irreversible) and reverse agonists
- receptor theories
- concepts of affinity, intrinsic activity, potency and efficacy
7) Drug research and development process
8) Biotechnological drugs
- definition and structure of a monoclonal antibody
- history and techniques to isolate monoclonal antibodies
9) Anti-tumoral drugs
10) Different classes of drugs involved in:
- nervous system, cardiovascular, respiratory tract, endocrine and metabolic system, digestive system

In addition to the slides, lecture notes and a scientific publications provided by the teacher, the following textbooks are suggested:
- Bertram G. Katzung: Basic & Clinical Pharmacology - Mc Graw Hill, Lange
- Gasco, Gualtieri e Melchiorre: Chimica farmaceutica - Casa Editrice Ambrosiana
- Rang and Dale's: Pharmacology - Elsevier
- Clementi, Fumagalli: Farmacologia generale e molecolare - Edra

The assessment of learning takes place by an oral exam. Specifically, the objective of the exam consists of verifying and evaluating:
- the level of knowledge of the topics dealt with in class
- the ability of critical thinking
- the ability to make connections between the different contents of the course
During the lesson period, each student will present in the classroom a scientific paper/specific topic proposed by the teacher. The ability to expose in a formal and concise manner using appropriate scientific language will be evaluated and taken into consideration for the final mark.
The constant and active participation in the lessons will be taken into account in the final evaluation.
The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. Finals will take place within the dates established by the academic calendar.

Teaching is organized in:
- frontal theoretical lectures with PowerPoint presentations and scientific articles
- the teaching material will be present and downloadable from the University's Moodle e-learning platform
- the journal club presented by the students will be part of the program and will be shared among the students
Classroom lectures will be interactive, and questions are more than welcome in order to improve the scientific discussion, mainly during the journal club sessions.

English

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development