Pharmacology and drugs from plants

This OLH introduces students to the scientific, technological, and practical foundations of modern pharmaceutical and natural-product drug discovery. An overview of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, explains how medicines are discovered, developed, and manufactured, introducing key concepts such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients, and the distinction between primary and secondary processing. Through case studies, students explore how both natural products and innovative research strategies have shaped today’s therapeutic landscape.

Learners will investigate contemporary drug-discovery approaches, including rational design, high-throughput screening, and computational techniques used to identify new drug candidates. The course also highlights the critical role of chirality in drug action and guides students through the major phases of clinical trials and the regulatory pathways required for market approval.

With a detailed case study, students will compare different extraction methods and solvents, examine how extraction differs from chemical synthesis, and learn about a range of laboratory techniques used for purification and isolation. Online demonstrations and resources will support understanding of how these methods operate in practice. They will also explores the role of plant-derived products, including essential oils and secondary metabolites, in drug design and development.

These components provide a holistic foundation in natural-product chemistry, pharmaceutical science, and modern drug-development practices.

General learning outcomes

• Explain how pharmaceuticals are discovered, developed and produced, including modern drug-discovery methods, the role of chirality in drug performance, key industry concepts (API,excipients, primary and secondary processing), and the progression of medicines through clinical trial phases.
• Analyse major examples of drug development from natural and synthetic sources, using case studies such as Taxol, reserpine, aspirin, morphine, dyes, penicillin and viagra to illustrate how scientific, technological and industrial processes contribute to the creation of new therapeutics.

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