Alkaloids as drug leads - A predictive structural and biodiversity-based analysis

- Despite of their historical importance, only a few new medicines are alkaloid-based.
- Physiochemical features of 27,683 alkaloids are cross-referenced to various metrics.
- Existing empirical rules are of limited usefulness in the context of alkaloids.
- A new rule for predicting the druglikeness of alkaloids is proposed.
- A compound's likelihood of a medicinal use can be linked to a species' abundance.