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Editorial

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 6, 853 (1 November 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrd2460

A decade of drug-likeness

Applications of the concept of drug-likeness, which involve consideration of how properties of chemicals such as lipophilicity compare with those of approved drugs, have become widely accepted as a way to reduce attrition in the past decade. However, a recent analysis indicates that this acceptance is not completely reflected in the properties of potential drugs synthesized in recent years, perhaps increasing the likelihood of future failures.