Editorial: Drug repurposing and polypharmacology: A synergistic approach in multi-target based drug discovery

Drug repurposing (also called drug repositioning) is a process of identifying new therapeutic uses for approved and/or existing drugs for treating common, difficult-totreat and rare diseases (Paul et al., 2022; Rudrapal et al., 2022). On the other hand, polypharmacology (or multi-targeting approach) involves the interactions of drug molecules with multiple targets of different therapeutic indications/diseases (Jamir et al., 2022). Drug repurposing is increasingly becoming an attractive strategy worldwide as it involves lower risk, potentially reduced expenditure and shorter development timelines as compared to de novo drug discovery (Rudrapal et al., 2020). Rising scenarios of deadly diseases (cancer, cardiovascular illness, diabetes, infectious diseases, COVID-19) largely affect the lives of millions of people, and thereby it impose a heavy economic burden globally (Singh et al., 2020). Currently available (or FDA approved) drugs are inadequate to manage a majority of such diseases, and, therefore, there is an urgent need for new drug candidates and/or drug therapy. Drugs with multi-targeting (polypharmacology approach) potential are immensely interesting in repurposing, because this dual synergistic strategy could offer better therapeutic alternative and useful clinical candidates (Pinzi et al., 2021). The Research Topic “Drug repurposing and polypharmacology: A synergistic approach in multi-target based drug discovery” was aimed to compile latest research ideas, directions, developments and advances focusing on the theme of the topic within the scope of the journal. The topic was led by three Guest Editors listed above who are experts in the subject and oversaw the entire editorial process for the submitted papers. A total of ten articles were published, including seven original research and three review articles. OPEN ACCESS