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BSc Cell Biology with a Modern Language

Year of entry: 2021

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Course unit details:
Clinical Drug Development

Unit code	BIOL21302
Credit rating	10
Unit level	Level 2
Teaching period(s)	Semester 2
Offered by	School of Biological Sciences
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

Clinical Drug Development explains the appliance of science whereby new drugs are discovered and developed, from initial ideas through to full clinical use in man. You will learn that consideration of how an individuals handling of drugs, i.e. pharmacokinetics; is important in the development of new drugs and about the interplay between business aspects and the biosciences.

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title	Unit code	Requirement type	Description
Drugs: From Molecules to Man	BIOL10822	Pre-Requisite	Compulsory

BIOL21302 Pre- & Co-requisites are BIOL10822

Aims

To explain the appliance of science whereby new drugs are discovered and developed from initial ideas through to full clinical use in man
To explain how consideration of how an individual’s handling of drugs, i.e. pharmacokinetics; is important in the development of new drugs
Illustrate the interplay between business aspects and the biosciences

Learning outcomes

Students will gain an understanding of:

The major approaches to drug discovery
Application of molecular biology techniques to identifying lead compounds
Methods for determining the pharmacological and toxicological properties of compounds
The role of pharmacokinetic principles in the drug discovery process
Regulatory requirements for drugs
Clinical evaluation of drugs

Syllabus

Overview: Medicines: the discovery processes. The pharmaceutical industry.
Initial stages: Target discovery. Applications of molecular biology. Lead discovery. Lead optimisation. In silico methods. Biomarkers.
Measurement of drug properties: Assay techniques. Agonists (full, partial and inverse). Competitive antagonists. In vivo models. Pharmacokinetic profiles of compounds. Pharmacogenetics. Formulations. Pre-clinical safety assessment.
Later stages: Pharmaceutical development. Clinical evaluation: Phase I and II. Concepts in clinical trial design.

e-Learning Activity

Discussion board will be open to encourage dialogue between students
Additional resources to support the lecture content will be provided.
eLearning self-assessment modules: four question sets based on the course content and additional reading will be presented for summative assessment.

Employability skills

Analytical skills: Collaborative PowerPoint poster undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. Data is drip-fed to each team on a regular basis. Students are required to analyse this data and determine the next step to be taken in the drug discovery process. Some elearning modules will require students to analyse data and experimental results.
Group/team working: Collaborative presentation. Students work in teams of 5 or 6. Students are randomly allocated to teams and therefore may have to work with students they do not know.
Innovation/creativity: Collaborative presentation undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. Opportunity to generate an eye catching poster which also includes the appropriate level of scientific detail.
Leadership: Collaborative presentation undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. Each team may identify a team leader.
Project management: Collaborative presentation undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. The students spend approximately 9 weeks on this project. Information is drip fed to them throughout the project.
Oral communication: Students encouraged to answer questions during lectures.
Problem solving: Collaborative presentation undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. Data is drip-fed to each team on a regular basis. Students are required to analyse this data and determine the next step to be taken in the drug discovery process. This will require analysis of primary sources.. Some elearning modules are based on problem solving.
Research: Collaborative presentation undertaken by teams of 5 or 6 students. See below with regards to problem-solving skills. Students will need to determine appropriate experimental techniques to generate data. Additional reading material provided to students with each lecture.
Written communication: Collaborative presentation (poster, podcast, YouTube video) looking at the drug discovery process. Students work in teams of 5 or 6. Short note questions in examination.
Other: Business awareness. Underpinning this unit is the need to understand the relationship between business aspects and the biosciences. To this end, we have three guest lecturers (AstraZeneca, Gentronix and ICON) who deliver a total of 4 lectures on this unit.

Assessment methods

Method	Weight
Other	5%
Written exam	80%
Set exercise	15%

Coursework components include a drug discovery game (15%) and eLearning modules (5%). Summative 1.5 hour examination (80%) comprising MCQs (40% of exam) and short-note questions (60% of exam).

Feedback methods

Students will be encouraged to ask questions during lectures and receive immediate feedback from staff and also via the Blackboard Discussion Board, which will be the main vehicle for providing feedback. Staff will also give individual feedback to questions raised by email.
Students will receive feedback throughout the drug discovery game.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam	1.3
Lectures	22

Independent study hours
Independent study	76.7

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Alison Gurney	Unit coordinator

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