The emergence of designed multiple ligands for neurodegenerative disorders

► For complex neurodegenerative diseases, no current single disease-modifying therapy exists in the clinic. ► Mounting evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies suggests that designed multiple ligands (DMLs) can be successfully developed, brought to market and used in the clinic to modify the progress of neurodegenerative diseases. ► Correlation of observations in patients with experiments designed to uncover the structural requirements for targeting multiple pathological loci makes the creation of DMLs an increasingly attractive drug discovery option. ► Several new DMLs now in the pipeline may successfully make the transition from preclinical testing to the clinic.