What is "druggability"

alt. (context genetics medicine English) The ability of a portion of a genome to be targeted by a drug, especially by a small molecule drug n. (context genetics medicine English) The ability of a portion of a genome to be targeted by a drug, especially by a small molecule drug

Druggability is a term used in drug discovery to describe a biological target (such as a protein) that is known to or is predicted to bind with high affinity to a drug. Furthermore, by definition, the binding of the drug to a druggable target must alter the function of the target with a therapeutic benefit to the patient. The concept of druggability is most often restricted to small molecules (low molecular weight organic substances) but also has been extended to include biologic medical products such as therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

Drug discovery comprises a number of stages that lead from a biological hypothesis to an approved drug. Target identification is typically the starting point of the modern drug discovery process. Candidate targets may be selected based on a variety of experimental criteria. These criteria may include disease linkage (mutations in the protein are known to cause a disease), mechanistic rationale (for example, the protein is part of a regulatory pathway that is involved in the disease process), or genetic screens in model organisms. Disease relevance alone however is insufficient for a protein to become a drug target. In addition, the target must be druggable.