The covalent docking software landscape: features and applications in drug design.

ABSTRACT: Covalent small-molecule ligands have re-emerged as powerful tools in drug discovery, offering prolonged target engagement, enhanced potency, and the ability to modulate proteins once considered undruggable. However, the rational design and virtual screening (VS) of covalent ligands remain challenging. Many docking tools cannot accurately model the energetics of covalent bond formation, often requiring more rigorous quantum mechanical (QM) or semi-empirical QM calculations for reliable predictions. Despite these limitations, the computational landscape is rapidly evolving. An increasing number of open-source, commercial, and web-based platforms now support binding mode exploration, lead optimization, and structure-based VS of covalent ligands. Alongside traditional approaches, new artificia

SUBMITTER: Singh N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12753312 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature