?Nowadays, new drugs are 
mostly developed by the organic chemist working with a pharmacologist, increasingly from basic 
knowledge about key molecular targets.The Second World War was the impetus for accelerated research in pharmacology (the war time 
antimalarial program) in the U.S., and introduced strong analytical and synthetic chemical approaches.Usually some sort of biological screen is used to select among 
organic molecules for optimum pharmacological activity.Often in the past, this was 
based on folklore or intelligent observation (e.g. digitalis leaf, penicillin).It is of intellectual interest to know how drugs are discovered and developed.1.7.