What term describes the process by which pharmaceutical and academic laboratories identify or screen compounds to find potentially therapeutic agents?

• A. Drug Discovery
• B. Pharmacokinetics
• C. Clinical development
• D. Pharmacovigilance

Answer: (A)

The term describes the search and screening of chemical compounds to find those with potential therapeutic effects. In pharma and academic labs, drug discovery involves identifying biological targets, assembling libraries of compounds, testing them in assays to see which affect the target, and optimizing promising hits into lead compounds. This stage is distinct from what happens after a drug is identified—studies on how the body handles the drug (pharmacokinetics), testing safety and efficacy in humans (clinical development), or monitoring safety after a drug is on the market (pharmacovigilance).