Advances in virtual screening

Although the term virtual screening as the in silico analog of high throughput screening has been coined only a decade ago, virtual screening is now a widespread lead identification method in the pharmaceutical industry. A myriad of different methods have been developed exploiting the growing library of target structures and assay data as a basis for finding new lead structures. Exploiting synergies between different methods best utilizes the information available and is at the center of recent developments. Section editors: Tudor Oprea – University of New Mexico, School of Medicine, Albuquerque, USA Alex Tropsha – University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA