Medicinal chemistry is often referred to as a mature science, but this is a misconception as it is rather that medicinal chemists have had some considerable successes in pharmaceutical R&D. However, medicinal chemists have the potential to play a much wider role in this area than they currently do.

In their Editorial for Angewandte Chemie, Torsten Hoffmann and Rainer Metternich from F. Hoffmann−La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland, outline the areas beyond the traditional borders of medicinal chemistry that they think should be investigated in order to advance pharmaceutical R&D. This includes phenotypic discovery, regenerative medicine, and peptide therapeutics. They also discuss how a supportive working environment that fosters creativity can be achieved in terms of access to appropriate resources and removal of pressure to reach challenging targets.

• The Future of Medicinal Chemistry,
  Torsten Hoffmann, Rainer Metternich,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201201677