Drug Repurposing Advantages And Strategies

By Shawn Watson, Head of Research and Development, Pharmaceutics International (Pii)

What is Drug Repurposing?

Drug repurposing became a topic of conversation this past year when existing therapeutics like the anti-malaria drug chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, initially developed to treat hepatitis C were both repurposed to treat SARS-CoV-2. In fact, more than 150 drugs that are presently being used or evaluated to treat coronavirus are indeed repositioned.¹

Drug repurposing is the process of identifying new therapeutic use(s) for old/existing/available drugs. It is an effective strategy in discovering or developing drug molecules with new pharmacological/therapeutic indications.

The market for repurposed drugs was valued at $24.4 billion in 2015² and is expected to reach $35 billion by 2027³. Additionally, the market generates around 25% of the annual revenue for the pharmaceutical industry.²