New computational strategies reported this week in Science might help realize the promise of peptide-based drugs. Peptides are similar to protein molecules, but differ in their smaller size, structure and functions. Macrocyclic peptides have sparked pharmaceutical industry interest, because they have certain physical and chemical properties that could become the basis of a new generation of medications.…

In what is being called the first-ever test of open-source drug-discovery, researchers from around the world have successfully identified compounds to pursue in treating and preventing parasite-borne illnesses such as malaria as well as cancer. Starting in late 2011, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, based in Geneva, Switzerland, distributed 400 diverse compounds with antimalarial activity…