ReviewInformaticsLaying in silico pipelines for drug repositioning: a paradigm in ensemble analysis for neurodegenerative diseases

•Computational drug repositioning is a serious support tool to shortlist candidate drugs.•Up-to-date review of drug repositioning methodologies.•Example of a drug repositioning pipeline on neurodegenerative diseases reveals novel results.•Ensemble analysis reveals common genes and mechanisms between Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

When faced with time- and money-consuming problems, new practices in pharmaceutical R&D arose when trying to alleviate them. Drug repositioning has great promise and when combined with today's computational power and intelligence it becomes more precise and potent. This work showcases current approaches of creating a computational pipeline for drug repositioning, along with an extensive example of how researchers can influence therapeutic approaches and further understanding, through either single or multiple disease studies. This paradigm is based on three neurodegenerative diseases with pathophysiological similarities. It is our goal to provide the readers with all the information needed to enrich their research and note expectations along the way.