Emerging modes-of-action in drug discovery.

An increasing focus on complex biology to cure diseases rather than merely treat symptoms has transformed how drug discovery can be approached. Instead of activating or blocking protein function, a growing repertoire of drug modalities can be leveraged or engineered to hijack cellular processes, such as translational regulation or degradation mechanisms. Drug hunters can therefore access a wider arsenal of modes-of-action to modulate biological processes and this review summarises these emerging strategies by highlighting the most representative examples of these approaches.