501 week 1

effectiveness, safety, and selectivity

does the drug do what is supposed to do

this is the most important property a drug can have

a safe drug cannot produce harmful effects

a selective drug does what it is supposed to do and nothing more and nothing less

there is no such thing as a wholly selective drug because all drugs have side effects

drug therapy is supposed to provide maximum benefit with minimal harm

• administration
• pharmacokinetics
• pharmacodynamics
• source of individual variation

signaling molecule that binds to a target receptor molecule, which is usually a lot larger

receiving molecule on the surface of cell or on the inside of the cell