Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of infectious diseases that
affect thousands of people all over the world. These diseases mainly affect the
population that lives in poverty and lack sanitation, prevalent mainly in tropical and
subtropical countries. In this sense, they are called “neglected” due to the low
investment in P&D in pharmaceutical companies' discovery and development of new
agents. Thus, developing new drugs against these diseases is one of the two biggest
challenges for academic researchers around the world, and increasingly, there is a need
for advances in medicinal chemistry methods and the identification of molecular targets
for the design of innovative drugs that can put an end to these threats. Finally, here we
will present methods used in medicinal chemistry in recent years in the design of drugs
against these agents, with a focus on the development of new compounds against Nmyristoyltransferase, nitroreductases, topoisomerases, pyrimidine synthesis pathway,
and mitochondrial alterations constantly explored against various NTDs. We hope this
chapter serves as a guide for researchers worldwide searching for innovative drugs that
can finally help these people and improve the health of the world's population.
Keywords: CADD, Chagas diseases, Chikungunya, Dengue, Drug design, Drug discovery, Fasciola, leprosy, Leishmaniasis, Malaria, NTDs, Schistosomiasis, Sleeping sickness, Tuberculosis, Zika.
