Simplifying multidrug therapies
Harvard researchers say they have discovered a new approach that could “drastically simplify” the process of designing drug cocktails to battle everything from bacterial infection to cancer and even HIV. As described in a paper published in the July 24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team led by Philippe Cluzel, professor of molecular and cellular biology and Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, found that by studying how drugs interact in pairs, researchers can predict how larger combinations will interact. “This approach could significantly simplify the current development process,” said Kevin Wood, postdoctoral fellow in molecular and cellular biology and lead author of the paper. “Characterizing the effects of drugs, both individually and in pairs, remains essential, but this research suggests that once you have that information, it may be all you need. The results could open the door to the systematic design of candidate...