Prodrug
Compound that is metabolized into a pharmacologically active drug / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A prodrug is a pharmacologically inactive medication or compound that, after intake, is metabolized (i.e., converted within the body) into a pharmacologically active drug.[1][2] Instead of administering a drug directly, a corresponding prodrug can be used to improve how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted (ADME).[3][4]
Prodrugs are often designed to improve bioavailability when a drug itself is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.[2] A prodrug may be used to improve how selectively the drug interacts with cells or processes that are not its intended target. This reduces adverse or unintended effects of a drug, especially important in treatments like chemotherapy, which can have severe unintended and undesirable side effects.
Compound that undergoes biotransformation before exhibiting pharmacological effects.
Note 1: Modified from ref.[5]
Note 2: Prodrugs can thus be viewed as drugs containing specialized nontoxic protective groups used in a transient manner to alter or to eliminate undesirable properties in the parent molecule.[6]